In this activity we will use conservation of energy to determine the moment of inertia, I, of objects undergoing rotational motion. The moment of inertia is a property of a rotating body that depends both upon the mass of the object and the orientation of that mass with respect to the axis of rotation. We will be using a disk (I = 1 2MR2) and a ring (I = MR2). Each will be placed on a turntable that rotates on a spindle of radius r as shown in the diagram below. Initially, the system has only potential energy. When the hanging object is released, potential energy is converted into kinetic energy
Where is the kinetic energy?
What types of kinetic energy are present?
Using your knowledge of kinematics, write an equation for the average velocity of the falling object in terms of things you can measure.