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Thisarticleisaboutthemassmomentofinertiaofarotatingobject.Forareamomentofinertiain
beambending,seesecondmomentofarea.
TightropewalkerSamuelDixonusingthelongrod'smomentofinertiaforbalancewhilecrossingthe
NiagaraRiverin1890.
Flywheelshavelargemomentsofinertiatosmoothoutmechanicalmotion.ThisexampleisinaRussianmuseum.
Themomentofinertia,otherwiseknownastheangularmassorrotationalinertia,ofarigidbody
determinesthetorqueneededforadesiredangularaccelerationaboutarotationalaxis.Itdepends
onthebody'smassdistributionandtheaxischosen,withlargermomentsrequiringmoretorqueto
changethebody'srotation.Itisanextensive(additive)property:themomentofinertiaofa
compositesystemisthesumofthemomentsofinertiaofitscomponentsubsystems(alltakenabout
thesameaxis).Oneofitsdefinitionsisthesecondmomentofmasswithrespecttodistancefroman
axisr,
,integratingovertheentiremass
.
Forbodiesconstrainedtorotateinaplane,itissufficienttoconsidertheirmomentofinertiaaboutan
axisperpendiculartotheplane.Forbodiesfreetorotateinthreedimensions,theirmomentscanbe
describedbyasymmetric33matrixeachbodyhasasetofmutuallyperpendicularprincipalaxes
forwhichthismatrixisdiagonalandtorquesaroundtheaxesactindependentlyofeachother.
Introduction[edit]
Whenabodyisrotating,orfreetorotate,aroundanaxis,atorquemustbeappliedtochangeits
angularmomentum.Theamountoftorqueneededforanygivenrateofchangeinangular
momentumisproportionaltothemomentofinertiaofthebody.Momentofinertiamaybeexpressed
intermsofkilogramsquaremetres(kgm2)inSIunitsandpoundsquarefeet(lbmft2)inimperialor
USunits.
MomentofinertiaplaystheroleinrotationalkineticsthatMass(inertia)playsinlinearkineticsboth
characterizetheresistanceofabodytochangesinitsmotion.Themomentofinertiadependson
howmassisdistributedaroundanaxisofrotation,andwillvarydependingonthechosenaxis.Fora
pointlikemass,themomentofinertiaaboutsomeaxisisgivenbyd2m,wheredisthedistancetothe
axis,andmisthemass.Foranextendedbody,themomentofinertiaisjustthesumofallthesmall
piecesofmassmultipliedbythesquareoftheirdistancesfromtheaxisinquestion.Foranextended
bodyofaregularshapeanduniformdensity,thissummationsometimesproducesasimple
expressionthatdependsonthedimensions,shapeandtotalmassoftheobject.
In1673ChristiaanHuygensintroducedthisparameterinhisstudyoftheoscillationofabody
hangingfromapivot,knownasacompoundpendulum.[1]Thetermmomentofinertiawasintroduced
byLeonhardEulerinhisbookTheoriamotuscorporumsolidorumseurigidorumin1765,[1][2]anditis
incorporatedintoEuler'ssecondlaw.
Thenaturalfrequencyofoscillationofacompoundpendulumisobtainedfromtheratioofthetorque
imposedbygravityonthemassofthependulumtotheresistancetoaccelerationdefinedbythe
momentofinertia.Comparisonofthisnaturalfrequencytothatofasimplependulumconsistingofa
singlepointofmassprovidesamathematicalformulationformomentofinertiaofanextendedbody.
[3][4]
Momentofinertiaalsoappearsinmomentum,kineticenergy,andinNewton'slawsofmotionfora
rigidbodyasaphysicalparameterthatcombinesitsshapeandmass.Thereisaninteresting
differenceinthewaymomentofinertiaappearsinplanarandspatialmovement.Planarmovement
hasasinglescalarthatdefinesthemomentofinertia,whileforspatialmovementthesame
calculationsyielda33matrixofmomentsofinertia,calledtheinertiamatrixorinertiatensor.[5][6]
Themomentofinertiaofarotatingflywheelisusedinamachinetoresistvariationsinappliedtorque
tosmoothitsrotationaloutput.Themomentofinertiaofanairplaneaboutitslongitudinal,horizontal
andverticalaxesdetermineshowsteeringforcesonthecontrolsurfacesofitswings,elevatorsand
tailaffecttheplaneinroll,pitchandyaw.
MomentofinertiaIisdefinedastheratiooftheangularmomentumLofasystemtoitsangular
velocityaroundaprincipalaxis,thatis[7][9]
Iftheangularmomentumofasystemisconstant,thenasthemomentofinertiagetssmaller,the
angularvelocitymustincrease.Thisoccurswhenspinningfigureskaterspullintheiroutstretched
armsordiversmovefromastraightpositiontoatuckpositionduringadive.
Iftheshapeofthebodydoesnotchange,thenitsmomentofinertiaappearsinNewton'slawof
motionastheratioofanappliedtorqueonabodytotheangularaccelerationaroundaprincipal
axis,thatis
Forasimplependulum,thisdefinitionyieldsaformulaforthemomentofinertiaIintermsofthe
massmofthependulumanditsdistancerfromthepivotpointas,
Thus,momentofinertiadependsonboththemassmofabodyanditsgeometry,orshape,as
definedbythedistancertotheaxisofrotation.
Thissimpleformulageneralizestodefinemomentofinertiaforanarbitrarilyshapedbodyasthesum
ofalltheelementalpointmassesdmeachmultipliedbythesquareofitsperpendiculardistancerto
anaxisS.
Ingeneral,givenanobjectofmassm,aneffectiveradiuskcanbedefinedforanaxisthroughits
centerofmass,withsuchavaluethatitsmomentofinertiais
wherekisknownastheradiusofgyration.
Simplependulum[edit]
Momentofinertiacanbemeasuredusingasimplependulum,becauseitistheresistancetothe
rotationcausedbygravity.Mathematically,themomentofinertiaofthependulumistheratioofthe
torqueduetogravityaboutthepivotofapendulumtoitsangularaccelerationaboutthatpivotpoint.
Forasimplependulumthisisfoundtobetheproductofthemassoftheparticlemwiththesquareof
itsdistancertothepivot,thatis
Thiscanbeshownasfollows:Theforceofgravityonthemassofasimplependulumgeneratesa
torque
aroundtheaxisperpendiculartotheplaneofthependulummovement.Hereristhedistancevector
perpendiculartoandfromtheforcetothetorqueaxis.HereFisthetangentialcomponentofthenet
forceonthemass.Associatedwiththistorqueisanangularacceleration,
,ofthestringandmassaroundthisaxis.Sincethemassisconstrainedtoacirclethetangential
accelerationofthemassis
.Since
thetorqueequationbecomes:
whereeisaunitvectorperpendiculartotheplaneofthependulum.(Thesecondtothelaststep
occursbecauseoftheBACCABruleusingthefactthat
isalwaysperpendiculartor.)ThequantityI=mr2isthemomentofinertiaofthissinglemassaround
thepivotpoint.
ThequantityI=mr2alsoappearsintheangularmomentumofasimplependulum,whichis
calculatedfromthevelocityv=rofthependulummassaroundthepivot,whereistheangular
velocityofthemassaboutthepivotpoint.Thisangularmomentumisgivenby
usingmathsimilartothatusedtoderivethepreviousequation.
Similarly,thekineticenergyofthependulummassisdefinedbythevelocityofthependulumaround
thepivottoyield
ThisshowsthatthequantityI=mr2ishowmasscombineswiththeshapeofabodytodefine
rotationalinertia.Themomentofinertiaofanarbitrarilyshapedbodyisthesumofthevaluesmr2for
alloftheelementsofmassinthebody.
Compoundpendulum[edit]
PendulumsusedinMendenhallgravimeterapparatus,from1897scientificjournal.Theportablegravimeterdeveloped
in1890byThomasC.Mendenhallprovidedthemostaccuraterelativemeasurementsofthelocalgravitationalfieldof
theEarth.
Acompoundpendulumisabodyformedfromanassemblyofparticlesofcontinuousshapethat
rotatesrigidlyaroundapivot.Itsmomentofinertiaisthesumofthemomentsofinertiaofeachofthe
[14][15]:395396[16]:5153
particlesthatitiscomposedof.[14][15]:395396[16]:5153Thenaturalfrequency(
)ofacompoundpendulumdependsonitsmomentofinertia,
where
isthemassoftheobject,
islocalaccelerationofgravity,and
isthedistancefromthepivotpointtothecentreofmassoftheobject.Measuringthisfrequencyof
oscillationoversmallangulardisplacementsprovidesaneffectivewayofmeasuringmomentof
inertiaofabody.[17]:516517
Thus,todeterminethemomentofinertiaofthebody,simplysuspenditfromaconvenientpivotpoint
sothatitswingsfreelyinaplaneperpendiculartothedirectionofthedesiredmomentofinertia,then
measureitsnaturalfrequencyorperiodofoscillation(
),toobtain
where
istheperiod(duration)ofoscillation(usuallyaveragedovermultipleperiods).
Themomentofinertiaofthebodyaboutitscentreofmass,
,isthencalculatedusingtheparallelaxistheoremtobe
where
isthemassofthebodyand
isthedistancefromthepivotpoint
tothecentreofmass
.
Momentofinertiaofabodyisoftendefinedintermsofitsradiusofgyration,whichistheradiusofa
ringofequalmassaroundthecentreofmassofabodythathasthesamemomentofinertia.The
radiusofgyration
iscalculatedfromthebody'smomentofinertia
andmass
asthelength,[18]:12961297
Centerofoscillation[edit]
Asimplependulumthathasthesamenaturalfrequencyasacompoundpendulumdefinesthelength
fromthepivottoapointcalledthecentreofoscillationofthecompoundpendulum.Thispointalso
correspondstothecentreofpercussion.Thelength
isdeterminedfromtheformula,
or
Thesecondspendulum,whichprovidesthe"tick"and"tock"ofagrandfatherclock,takesonesecond
toswingfromsidetoside.Thisisaperiodoftwoseconds,oranaturalfrequencyof
radians/secondforthependulum.Inthiscase,thedistancetothecenterofoscillation,
,canbecomputedtobe
Noticethatthedistancetothecenterofoscillationofthesecondspendulummustbeadjustedto
accommodatedifferentvaluesforthelocalaccelerationofgravity.Kater'spendulumisacompound
pendulumthatusesthispropertytomeasurethelocalaccelerationofgravity,andiscalleda
gravimeter.
Measuringmomentofinertia[edit]
Themomentofinertiaofcomplexsystemssuchasavehicleorairplanearounditsverticalaxiscan
bemeasuredbysuspendingthesystemfromthreepointstoformatrifilarpendulum.Atrifilar
pendulumisaplatformsupportedbythreewiresdesignedtooscillateintorsionarounditsvertical
centroidalaxis.[19]Theperiodofoscillationofthetrifilarpendulumyieldsthemomentofinertiaofthe
system.[20]
Calculatingmomentofinertiaaboutanaxis[edit]
Fourobjectswithidenticalmassesandradiiracingdownaplanewhilerollingwithoutslipping.Frombacktofront:
sphericalshell(red),solidsphere(orange),cylindricalring(green)andsolidcylinder(blue).Thetimeforeachobject
toreachthefinishinglinedependsontheirmomentofinertia.(OGVversion)
Themomentofinertiaaboutanaxisofabodyiscalculatedbysummingmr2foreveryparticleinthe
body,whereristheperpendiculardistancetothespecifiedaxis.Toseehowmomentofinertiaarises
inthestudyofthemovementofanextendedbody,itisconvenienttoconsiderarigidassemblyof
pointmasses.(Thisequationcanbeusedforaxesthatarenotprincipalaxesprovidedthatitis
understoodthatthisdoesnotfullydescribethemomentofinertia.[21])
ConsiderthekineticenergyofanassemblyofNmassesmithatlieatthedistancesrifromthepivot
pointP,whichisthenearestpointontheaxisofrotation.Itisthesumofthekineticenergyofthe
individualmasses,[17]:516517[18]:10841085[18]:12961300
Thisshowsthatthemomentofinertiaofthebodyisthesumofeachofthemr2terms,thatis
Thus,momentofinertiaisaphysicalpropertythatcombinesthemassanddistributionofthe
particlesaroundtherotationaxis.Noticethatrotationaboutdifferentaxesofthesamebodyyield
differentmomentsofinertia.
Themomentofinertiaofacontinuousbodyrotatingaboutaspecifiedaxisiscalculatedinthesame
way,exceptwithinfinitelymanypointparticles.Thusthelimitsofsummationareremoved,andthe
sumiswrittenasfollows:
Anotherexpressionreplacesthesummationwithanintegral,
Here,thefunctiongivesthemassdensityateachpoint(x,y,z),risavectorperpendiculartothe
axisofrotationandextendingfromapointontherotationaxistoapoint(x,y,z)inthesolid,andthe
integrationisevaluatedoverthevolumeVofthebodyQ.Themomentofinertiaofaflatsurfaceis
similarwiththemassdensitybeingreplacedbyitsarealmassdensitywiththeintegralevaluatedover
itsarea.
Noteonsecondmomentofarea:Themomentofinertiaofabodymovinginaplaneandthe
secondmomentofareaofabeam'scrosssectionareoftenconfused.Themomentofinertiaofbody
withtheshapeofthecrosssectionisthesecondmomentofthisareaaboutthezaxisperpendicular
tothecrosssection,weightedbyitsdensity.Thisisalsocalledthepolarmomentofthearea,andis
thesumofthesecondmomentsaboutthexandyaxes.[22]Thestressesinabeamarecalculated
usingthesecondmomentofthecrosssectionalareaaroundeitherthexaxisoryaxisdependingon
theload.
Themomentofinertiaofacompoundpendulumconstructedfromathindiscmountedattheend
ofathinrodthatoscillatesaroundapivotattheotherendoftherod,beginswiththecalculationof
themomentofinertiaofthethinrodandthindiscabouttheirrespectivecentresofmass.[18]
Themomentofinertiaofathinrodwithconstantcrosssectionsanddensityandwithlength
aboutaperpendicularaxisthroughitscentreofmassisdeterminedbyintegration.[18]:1301Align
thexaxiswiththerodandlocatetheoriginitscentreofmassatthecentreoftherod,then
wherem=sisthemassoftherod.
Themomentofinertiaofathindiscofconstantthicknesss,radiusR,anddensityaboutan
axisthroughitscentreandperpendiculartoitsface(paralleltoitsaxisofrotationalsymmetry)is
determinedbyintegration.[18]:1301Alignthezaxiswiththeaxisofthediscanddefineavolume
elementasdV=srdrd,then
wherem=R2sisitsmass.
Themomentofinertiaofthecompoundpendulumisnowobtainedbyaddingthemomentof
inertiaoftherodandthediscaroundthepivotpointPas,
whereListhelengthofthependulum.Noticethattheparallelaxistheoremisusedtoshiftthe
momentofinertiafromthecentreofmasstothepivotpointofthependulum.
Alistofmomentsofinertiaformulasforstandardbodyshapesprovidesawaytoobtainthemoment
ofinertialofacomplexbodyasanassemblyofsimplershapedbodies.Theparallelaxistheoremis
usedtoshiftthereferencepointoftheindividualbodiestothereferencepointoftheassembly.
Asonemoreexample,considerthemomentofinertiaofasolidsphereofconstantdensityaboutan
axisthroughitscentreofmass.Thisisdeterminedbysummingthemomentsofinertiaofthethin
discsthatformthesphere.Ifthesurfaceoftheballisdefinedbytheequation[18]:1301
thentheradiusrofthediscatthecrosssectionzalongthezaxisis
Therefore,themomentofinertiaoftheballisthesumofthemomentsofinertiaofthediscsalong
thezaxis,
wherem=
Momentofinertiainplanarmovementofarigidbody[edit]
Ifamechanicalsystemisconstrainedtomoveparalleltoafixedplane,thentherotationofabodyin
thesystemoccursaroundanaxiskperpendiculartothisplane.Inthiscase,themomentofinertiaof
themassinthissystemisascalarknownasthepolarmomentofinertia.Thedefinitionofthepolar
momentofinertiacanbeobtainedbyconsideringmomentum,kineticenergyandNewton'slawsfor
theplanarmovementofarigidsystemofparticles.[14][17][23][24]
Ifasystemofnparticles,Pi,i=1,...,n,areassembledintoarigidbody,thenthemomentumofthe
systemcanbewrittenintermsofpositionsrelativetoareferencepointR,andabsolutevelocitiesvi
whereistheangularvelocityofthesystemandVisthevelocityofR.
Forplanarmovementtheangularvelocityvectorisdirectedalongtheunitvectorkwhichis
perpendiculartotheplaneofmovement.IntroducetheunitvectorseifromthereferencepointRtoa
pointri,andtheunitvectorti=keiso
Thisdefinestherelativepositionvectorandthevelocityvectorfortherigidsystemoftheparticles
movinginaplane.
Noteonthecrossproduct:Whenabodymovesparalleltoagroundplane,thetrajectoriesofall
thepointsinthebodylieinplanesparalleltothisgroundplane.Thismeansthatanyrotationthatthe
bodyundergoesmustbearoundanaxisperpendiculartothisplane.Planarmovementisoften
presentedasprojectedontothisgroundplanesothattheaxisofrotationappearsasapoint.Inthis
case,theangularvelocityandangularaccelerationofthebodyarescalarsandthefactthattheyare
vectorsalongtherotationaxisisignored.Thisisusuallypreferredforintroductionstothetopic.Butin
thecaseofmomentofinertia,thecombinationofmassandgeometrybenefitsfromthegeometric
propertiesofthecrossproduct.Forthisreason,inthissectiononplanarmovementtheangular
velocityandaccelerationsofthebodyarevectorsperpendiculartothegroundplane,andthecross
productoperationsarethesameasusedforthestudyofspatialrigidbodymovement.
Angularmomentuminplanarmovement[edit]
Theangularmomentumvectorfortheplanarmovementofarigidsystemofparticlesisgivenby[14]
[17]
UsethecentreofmassCasthereferencepointso
anddefinethemomentofinertiarelativetothecentreofmassICas
thentheequationforangularmomentumsimplifiesto[18]:1028
ThemomentofinertiaICaboutanaxisperpendiculartothemovementoftherigidsystemand
throughthecentreofmassisknownasthepolarmomentofinertia.
Foragivenamountofangularmomentum,adecreaseinthemomentofinertiaresultsinanincrease
intheangularvelocity.Figureskaterscanchangetheirmomentofinertiabypullingintheirarms.
Thus,theangularvelocityachievedbyaskaterwithoutstretchedarmsresultsinagreaterangular
velocitywhenthearmsarepulledin,becauseofthereducedmomentofinertia.
Kineticenergyinplanarmovement[edit]
This1906rotaryshearusesthemomentofinertiaoftwoflywheelstostorekineticenergywhichwhenreleasedisused
tocutmetalstock(InternationalLibraryofTechnology,1906).
Thekineticenergyofarigidsystemofparticlesmovingintheplaneisgivenby[14][17]
Thisequationexpandstoyieldthreeterms
LetthereferencepointbethecentreofmassCofthesystemsothesecondtermbecomeszero,and
introducethemomentofinertiaICsothekineticenergyisgivenby[18]:1084
ThemomentofinertiaICisthepolarmomentofinertiaofthebody.
Newton'slawsforplanarmovement[edit]
A1920sJohnDeeretractorwiththespokedflywheelontheengine.Thelargemomentofinertiaoftheflywheel
smoothstheoperationofthetractor
Newton'slawsforarigidsystemofNparticles,Pi,i=1,...,N,canbewrittenintermsofaresultant
forceandtorqueatareferencepointR,toyield[14][17]
whereridenotesthetrajectoryofeachparticle.
ThekinematicsofarigidbodyyieldstheformulafortheaccelerationoftheparticlePiintermsofthe
positionRandaccelerationAofthereferenceparticleaswellastheangularvelocityvectorand
angularaccelerationvectoroftherigidsystemofparticlesas,
Forsystemsthatareconstrainedtoplanarmovement,theangularvelocityandangularacceleration
vectorsaredirectedalongkperpendiculartotheplaneofmovement,whichsimplifiesthis
accelerationequation.Inthiscase,theaccelerationvectorscanbesimplifiedbyintroducingtheunit
vectorseifromthereferencepointRtoapointriandtheunitvectorsti=kei,so
Thisyieldstheresultanttorqueonthesystemas
whereeiei=0,andeiti=kistheunitvectorperpendiculartotheplaneforalloftheparticlesPi.
UsethecentreofmassCasthereferencepointanddefinethemomentofinertiarelativetothe
centreofmassIC,thentheequationfortheresultanttorquesimplifiesto[18]:1029
TheparameterICisthepolarmomentofinertiaofthemovingbody.
Theinertiamatrixforspatialmovementofarigidbody[edit]
Thescalarmomentsofinertiaappearaselementsinamatrixwhenasystemofparticlesis
assembledintoarigidbodythatmovesinthreedimensionalspace.Thisinertiamatrixappearsinthe
calculationoftheangularmomentum,kineticenergyandresultanttorqueoftherigidsystemof
particles.[3][4][5][6][25]
AnimportantapplicationoftheinertiamatrixandNewton'slawsofmotionistheanalysisofa
spinningtop.Thisisdiscussedinthearticleongyroscopicprecession.Amoredetailedpresentation
canbefoundinthearticleonEuler'sequationsofmotion.
LetthesystemofparticlesPi,i=1,...,nbelocatedatthecoordinatesriwithvelocitiesvirelativetoa
fixedreferenceframe.Fora(possiblymoving)referencepointR,therelativepositionsare
andthe(absolute)velocitiesare
whereistheangularvelocityofthesystem,andVRisthevelocityofR.
Angularmomentum[edit]
IfthereferencepointRintheassembly,orbody,ischosenasthecentreofmassC,thenitsangular
momentumtakestheform,[3][6]
wherethetermscontainingVRsumtozerobydefinitionofthecentreofmass.
Todefinetheinertiamatrix,letusfirstnotethataskewsymmetricmatrix[B]couldbeconstructed
fromavectorbthatperformsthecrossproductoperation,suchthat
Thismatrix[B]hasthecomponentsofb=(bx,by,bz)asitselements,intheform
Nowconstructtheskewsymmetricmatrix[ri]=[riC]obtainedfromtherelativepositionvectorri=ri
C,andusethisskewsymmetricmatrixtodefine,
where[IC]definedby
isthesymmetricinertiamatrixoftherigidsystemofparticlesmeasuredrelativetothecentreofmass
C.
Kineticenergy[edit]
Thekineticenergyofarigidsystemofparticlescanbeformulatedintermsofthecentreofmassand
amatrixofmassmomentsofinertiaofthesystem.LetthesystemofparticlesPi,i=1,...,nbelocated
atthecoordinatesriwithvelocitiesvi,thenthekineticenergyis[3][6]
whereri=riCisthepositionvectorofaparticlerelativetothecentreofmass.
Thisequationexpandstoyieldthreeterms
ThesecondterminthisequationiszerobecauseCisthecentreofmass.Introducetheskew
symmetricmatrix[ri]sothekineticenergybecomes
Thus,thekineticenergyoftherigidsystemofparticlesisgivenby
where[IC]istheinertiamatrixrelativetothecentreofmassandMisthetotalmass.
Resultanttorque[edit]
TheinertiamatrixappearsintheapplicationofNewton'ssecondlawtoarigidassemblyofparticles.
Theresultanttorqueonthissystemis,[3][6]
whereaiistheaccelerationoftheparticlePi.Thekinematicsofarigidbodyyieldstheformulaforthe
accelerationoftheparticlePiintermsofthepositionRandaccelerationAofthereferencepoint,as
wellastheangularvelocityvectorandangularaccelerationvectoroftherigidsystemas,
UsethecentreofmassCasthereferencepoint,andintroducetheskewsymmetricmatrix[ri]=[riC]
torepresentthecrossproduct(riC)x,toobtain
Thecalculationusestheidentity
obtainedfromtheJacobiidentityforthetriplecrossproductasshownintheproofbelow:
Theinertiamatrixofabodydependsonthechoiceofthereferencepoint.Thereisauseful
relationshipbetweentheinertiamatrixrelativetothecentreofmassCandtheinertiamatrixrelative
toanotherpointR.Thisrelationshipiscalledtheparallelaxistheorem.[3][6]
Considertheinertiamatrix[IR]obtainedforarigidsystemofparticlesmeasuredrelativetoa
referencepointR,givenby
LetCbethecentreofmassoftherigidsystem,then
wheredisthevectorfromthecentreofmassCtothereferencepointR.Usethisequationto
computetheinertiamatrix,
Expandthisequationtoobtain
Thefirsttermistheinertiamatrix[IC]relativetothecentreofmass.Thesecondandthirdtermsare
zerobydefinitionofthecentreofmassC.Andthelasttermisthetotalmassofthesystemmultiplied
bythesquareoftheskewsymmetricmatrix[d]constructedfromd.
Theresultistheparallelaxistheorem,
wheredisthevectorfromthecentreofmassCtothereferencepointR.
Noteontheminussign:Byusingtheskewsymmetricmatrixofpositionvectorsrelativetothe
referencepoint,theinertiamatrixofeachparticlehastheformm[r]2,whichissimilartothemr2that
appearsinplanarmovement.However,tomakethistoworkoutcorrectlyaminussignisneeded.
Thisminussigncanbeabsorbedintothetermm[r]T[r],ifdesired,byusingtheskewsymmetry
propertyof[r].
Theinertiamatrixandthescalarmomentofinertiaaroundan
arbitraryaxis[edit]
Thescalarmomentofinertia,IL,ofabodyaboutaspecifiedaxiswhosedirectionisspecifiedbythe
unitvectorSandpassesthroughthebodyatapointRisasfollows:[6]
where[IR]isthemomentofinertiamatrixofthesystemrelativetothereferencepointR.
Thisisderivedasfollows.LetarigidassemblyofNparticles,Pi,i=1,...,N,havecoordinatesri.
ChooseRasareferencepointandcomputethemomentofinertiaaroundanaxisLdefinedbythe
unitvectorSthroughthereferencepointR.Themomentofinertiaofthesystemaroundthisline
L=R+tSiscomputedbydeterminingtheperpendicularvectorfromthisaxistotheparticlePigivenby
where[I]istheidentitymatrixand[SST]istheouterproductmatrixformedfromtheunitvectorS
alongthelineL.
Torelatethisscalarmomentofinertiatotheinertiamatrixofthebody,introducetheskewsymmetric
matrix[S]suchthat[S]y=Sxy,thenwehavetheidentity
whichreliesonthefactthatSisaunitvector.
Themagnitudesquaredoftheperpendicularvectoris
Thesimplificationofthisequationusestheidentity
wherethedotandthecrossproductshavebeeninterchanged.Expandthecrossproductsto
compute
where[ri]istheskewsymmetricmatrixobtainedfromthevectorr=riR.
Thus,themomentofinertiaaroundthelineLthroughRinthedirectionSisobtainedfromthe
calculation
or
where[IR]isthemomentofinertiamatrixofthesystemrelativetothereferencepointR.
Thisshowsthattheinertiamatrixcanbeusedtocalculatethemomentofinertiaofabodyaround
anyspecifiedrotationaxisinthebody.
Theinertiatensor[edit]
Theinertiamatrixisoftendescribedastheinertiatensor,whichconsistsofthesamemomentsof
inertiaandproductsofinertiaaboutthethreecoordinateaxes.[6][23]Theinertiatensorisconstructed
fromtheninecomponenttensors,(thesymbol
isthetensorproduct)
whereei,i=1,2,3arethethreeorthogonalunitvectorsdefiningtheinertialframeinwhichthebody
moves.Usingthisbasistheinertiatensorisgivenby
Thistensorisofdegreetwobecausethecomponenttensorsareeachconstructedfromtwobasis
vectors.Inthisformtheinertiatensorisalsocalledtheinertiabinor.
ForarigidsystemofparticlesPk,k=1,...,Neachofmassmkwithpositioncoordinatesrk=(xk,yk,zk),
theinertiatensorisgivenby
whereEistheidentitytensor
Theinertiatensorforacontinuousbodyisgivenby
whererdefinesthecoordinatesofapointinthebodyand(r)isthemassdensityatthatpoint.The
integralistakenoverthevolumeVofthebody.TheinertiatensorissymmetricbecauseIij=Iji.
Alternativelyitcanalsobewrittenintermsofthehatoperatoras:
Theinertiatensorcanbeusedinthesamewayastheinertiamatrixtocomputethescalarmoment
ofinertiaaboutanarbitraryaxisinthedirectionn,
wherethedotproductistakenwiththecorrespondingelementsinthecomponenttensors.Aproduct
ofinertiatermsuchasI12isobtainedbythecomputation
andcanbeinterpretedasthemomentofinertiaaroundthexaxiswhentheobjectrotatesaroundthe
yaxis.
Thecomponentsoftensorsofdegreetwocanbeassembledintoamatrix.Fortheinertiatensorthis
matrixisgivenby,
Itiscommoninrigidbodymechanicstousenotationthatexplicitlyidentifiesthex,y,andzaxes,such
asIxxandIxy,forthecomponentsoftheinertiatensor.
Identitiesforaskewsymmetricmatrix[edit]
Tocomputemomentofinertiaofamassaroundanaxis,theperpendicularvectorfromthemassto
theaxisisneeded.IftheaxisLisdefinedbytheunitvectorSthroughthereferencepointR,thenthe
perpendicularvectorfromthelineLtothepointrisgivenby
where[I]istheidentitymatrixand[SST]istheouterproductmatrixformedfromtheunitvectorS
alongthelineL.Recallthatskewsymmetricmatrix[S]isconstructedsothat[S]y=Sxy.Thematrix
[ISST]inthisequationsubtractsthecomponentofr=rRthatisparalleltoS.
Theprevioussectionsshowthatincomputingthemomentofinertiamatrixthisoperatoryieldsa
similaroperatorusingthecomponentsofthevectorrthatis
Itishelpfultokeepthefollowingidentitiesinmindtocomparetheequationsthatdefinetheinertia
tensorandtheinertiamatrix.
Let[R]betheskewsymmetricmatrixassociatedwiththepositionvectorR=(x,y,z),thentheproduct
intheinertiamatrixbecomes
Thiscanbeviewedasanotherwayofcomputingtheperpendiculardistancefromanaxistoapoint,
becausethematrixformedbytheouterproduct[RRT]yieldstheidentify
where[I]isthe3x3identitymatrix.
Alsonotice,that
wheretrdenotesthesumofthediagonalelementsoftheouterproductmatrix,knownasitstrace.
Theinertiamatrixindifferentreferenceframes[edit]
TheuseoftheinertiamatrixinNewton'ssecondlawassumesitscomponentsarecomputedrelative
toaxesparalleltotheinertialframeandnotrelativetoabodyfixedreferenceframe.[6][23]Thismeans
thatasthebodymovesthecomponentsoftheinertiamatrixchangewithtime.Incontrast,the
componentsoftheinertiamatrixmeasuredinabodyfixedframeareconstant.
Bodyframeinertiamatrix[edit]
Letthebodyframeinertiamatrixrelativetothecentreofmassbedenoted[ICB],anddefinethe
orientationofthebodyframerelativetotheinertialframebytherotationmatrix[A],suchthat,
wherevectorsyinthebodyfixedcoordinateframehavecoordinatesxintheinertialframe.Then,the
inertiamatrixofthebodymeasuredintheinertialframeisgivenby
Noticethat[A]changesasthebodymoves,while[ICB]remainsconstant.
Principalaxes[edit]
Measuredinthebodyframetheinertiamatrixisaconstantrealsymmetricmatrix.Arealsymmetric
matrixhastheeigendecompositionintotheproductofarotationmatrix[Q]andadiagonalmatrix[],
givenby
where
Thecolumnsoftherotationmatrix[Q]definethedirectionsoftheprincipalaxesofthebody,andthe
constantsI1,I2andI3arecalledtheprincipalmomentsofinertia.ThisresultwasfirstshownbyJ.
J.Sylvester(1852),andisaformofSylvester'slawofinertia.[26][27]
Forbodieswithconstantdensityanaxisofrotationalsymmetryisaprincipalaxis.
Inertiaofanellipsoid[edit]
Anellipsoidwiththesemiprincipaldiameterslabelleda,b,andc.
Themomentofinertiamatrixinbodyframecoordinatesisaquadraticformthatdefinesasurfacein
thebodycalledPoinsot'sellipsoid.[28]Let[]betheinertiamatrixrelativetothecentreofmass
alignedwiththeprincipalaxes,thenthesurface
or
definesanellipsoidinthebodyframe.Writethisequationintheform,
toseethatthesemiprincipaldiametersofthisellipsoidaregivenby
Letapointxonthisellipsoidbedefinedintermsofitsmagnitudeanddirection,x=|x|n,wherenisa
unitvector.Thentherelationshippresentedabove,betweentheinertiamatrixandthescalarmoment
ofinertiaInaroundanaxisinthedirectionn,yields
Thus,themagnitudeofapointxinthedirectionnontheinertiaellipsoidis