In this experiment, the rotational inertias of a ring and a disk are determined by applying a torque to the object and measuring the resulting angular acceleration.

A known torque is applied to the pulley on the Rotary Motion Sensor, causing a disk and ring to rotate. The resulting angular acceleration is measured using the slope of a graph of Angular Velocity vs. Time. The rotational inertia of the disk and ring combination is calculated from the torque and the angular acceleration. The procedure is repeated for the disk alone to find the rotational inertias of the ring and disk separately.

PASCO Advantage: Friction can be neglected in this compact setup. The Rotary Motion Sensor is a versatile tool that can be used in a variety of other experiments.

Concepts

• Rotational inertia of a ring and a disk
• Torque