Four small spheres, each of which you can regard as a point of mass 0.200 kg, are arranged in a square 0.400 m on a side and connected by light rods. find the moment of inertia of the system about an axis through the center of the square, perpendicular to its plane.

The moment of inertia of the system about an axis through the center of the square, perpendicular to the plane is 0.064 kg.m²

Let's recall Moment of Inertia formula as follows:

where:

I = moment of inertia

m = mass of object

R = distance between the object and the axis of rotation.

Given:

mass of sphere = m = 0.200 kg

length of side = x = 0.400 m

Asked:

net moment of inertia = ΣI = ?

Solution:

Let's ilustrate this question as shown in the attachment.

Firstly , let's find distance between center of the square and the sphere:

Next , we could find total moment of inertia as follows:

Grade: High School

Subject: Physics

Chapter: Rotational Dynamics

c

explanation:

e/c, where e is its total energy