Lab 17: Moment of Inertia of a Uniform Triangle

Lab 17: Moment of Inertia of a Uniform Triangle

In this lab, we determined the moment of inertia of a right triangle in two different orientations and then compared them. 

Introduction:

This lab gives us a visual and numerical representation of different moments of inertia of the same object that is just in different orientations. We used the same setup as in the Rotational Acceleration Lab to measure values for angular acceleration α. 

Apparatus/Procedure:

For this lab, we used the exact same setup as in lab 16, with the only difference being that we placed a triangle on top of the top rotating disk in two different orientations. 

We took data from this apparatus by using Logger Pro, just as we did in the previous lab. We ran 3 experiments. Initially we ran one without the triangle on it, then one with the height of the triangle as large, then one more with the height as small. 

Data/Calculations:

Actual Values:

Theoretical Values:

Conclusion:

This lab, just as with the other moment of inertia lab, went terribly. I believe that one or more of our measurements was very wrong, or our calculations were using the incorrect data. We can account some percent error for friction in the system, but not enough to get an 85% difference in some data.