Rotational Dynamics

Abstract: In this experiment, the rotational motion of a solid pulley was studied. A mass was hung on a string, which was wrapped around the pulley. Using the mass hung on the string and accelerations given by a motion detector below the mass, the moment of inertia of the pulley can be discovered. This experiment showed that the average value for moment of inertia of the specific pulley was 0.00268 Kgm2 with an uncertainty of 0.00048 Kgm2. …

…Therefore, the end result of the static determination would be a more accurate value to compare to. One other way to improve the experiment would be to use a disk that is 100% solid, rather than a disk with a groove around the outside and small holes drilled for the center and one outside to tie the string. There would probably be a minimal effect from doing this, but, it could at least help in precision.