What happens to the moment of inertia of a rigid body if it is rotated about an axis that is not its principal axis?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What happens to the moment of inertia of a rigid body if it is rotated about an axis that is not its principal axis?
It increases
It decreases
It remains the same
It becomes zero
The moment of inertia can change when rotating about an axis that is not a principal axis due to the distribution of mass relative to the new axis.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What happens to the moment of inertia of a rigid body if it is rotated about an axis that is not its principal axis?
Solution: The moment of inertia can change when rotating about an axis that is not a principal axis due to the distribution of mass relative to the new axis.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what moment of inertia is. It is a measure of how difficult it is to change the rotation of an object.
Step 2: Identify what a principal axis is. A principal axis is an axis about which the moment of inertia is calculated and is usually aligned with the object's symmetry.
Step 3: Recognize that when an object rotates about a principal axis, its mass is distributed evenly relative to that axis.
Step 4: When the object rotates about a different axis (not a principal axis), the distribution of mass changes relative to this new axis.
Step 5: Understand that this change in mass distribution affects the moment of inertia, making it different from the moment of inertia calculated about the principal axis.
