In the experiment, you will study an oscillator called a "torsion pendulum." In this case, the restoring "force" is the torsion constant of the wire that suspends the weight X and the inertial term is the rotational inertia of the suspended mass. You will compare the periods of a suspended sphere and of a suspended cube. The rotational inertia of a sphere is Is = [(1)/(10)]msD2 , where ms is the mass of the sphere and D is its diameter. The rotational inertia of a cube is Ic = [(1)/(6)]mcS2 , where mc is the mass of the cube and S is the length of its side. If the cube and the sphere are suspended from the same wire, what is the expected ratio of their periods, Tc / Ts ?
Assume that D = S ,
ms = 0.20 kg ,
and mc = 0.5 kg.