Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing

Engineering
EMM 3504 Machine Mechanics
Laboratory Report:
DETERMINATION OF MOMENTUM OF INERTIA
OF A GYROSCOPE DISK
Semester

: Semester 1, 2014/2015

Group

: B4

Group Members:
1. Muhammad Nur Ikhwan bin Mazli
2. Vincent Ong Shu Lin
3. Yokasundery A/P Muniandy

168699
168798
168636

Lecturer

: Dr.Mohd Roshdi bin Hassan

Date conduct experiment

: 30th October 2014

Date of Submission

: 6th November 2014

EXPERIMENT:

Result
Also obtained,

Solid cylinder (disc) = 900g

Hollow = 900g

Drive weight = 100g

Experimental, r = 0.01m

= 11cm

= 12cm

= 12cm

Part 1: Distance, h = 69cm

Types

Time (s)
1

Average

Solid

2.84

2.02

2.16

2.34

Hollow

3.04

2.87

3.13

3.103

Table 1: Result for experiment part 1.

Referring to the values in table above obtained during the experiment used to calculate inertia,
I:
Equations for calculating the moment of inertia for both theoretically and experimentally are
as follows:
Theoretically
(A) Solid cylinder
= m
= (1/8) x 0.9kg x (

= 1.62 x

(B) Hollow
= m(
= (1/8) x 0.9kg x (

) = 2.98 x

Experimentally
I=
(

=(

)(

)(

=(

(
(

)(

)(

= 3.97 x

kg

= 6.58 x

Types

Theoretical value

Experimental value

Solid

1.62 x

3.97 x

Hollow

2.98 x

6.58 x

kg

Table 2: Percentage of error for hollow and solid.

Percentage error (%)

75.5
77.9

Part 2:
Distance,

= 26cm

Height of hanging load, h: 69 cm

Distance, d1: 260 mm
Mass of load: 100g
Mass (g)

Time (s)
1

Average

200

7.60

7.30

7.49

7.463

400

10.33

10.57

10.17

10.357

800

13.92

13.97

13.92

13.937

Table 3: Time readings for different mass of loads at 260 mm.

Distance,

= 6cm

Height of hanging load, h: 69 cm

Distance, d2: 60 mm
Mass of load: 100g
Mass (g)

Time (s)
1

Average

200

3.51

3.50

3.57

3.527

400

3.87

4.00

3.91

3.927

800

4.82

4.69

4.78

4.763

Table 4: Time readings for different mass of loads at 60 mm.

Sample calculation for theoretical moment of inertia:

Sample of calculation for experimental value moment of inertia:

(
(

)(

Theoretical value for moment

of inertia,
100 g

200 g

400 g

-4

(x10 kg m )

Experimental value for

moment of inertia,

D = 60 mm

3.6

9.01

D = 260mm

67.6

40.4

D = 60 mm

7.2

11.2

D = 260mm

135.2

77.7

D = 60 mm

14.4

16.4

D = 260mm

270.4

140.8

Table 5: Values for theoretical and experimental for different mass.

Graph of Ix vs Mass for D = 60mm

Inertia Moment ((x10-4 kg m2)

18
16
14
12
10
8

Theoretical Ix value

Experimental Ix value

4
2
0
0

100

200

300

400

500

Mass (g)

Figure 1: Graph of Ix vs Mass for D = 60mm

Graph of Ix vs Mass for D = 260mm

Inertia Moment ((x10-4 kg m2)

300
250
200
150

Theoretical Ix value

100

Experimental Ix value

50
0
0

100

200

300

400

500

Mass (g)

Figure 2: Graph of Ix vs Mass for D = 260mm.

Discussion
From the experiment part 1 above, we found out that hollow cylinder took longer time in
order to let the drive weight to reach the bottom compared with solid cylinder. This is
because hollow cylinder has a higher moment of inertia compared to solid cylinder. Hence,
hollow cylinder has a lower angular acceleration due to its high moment of inertia compared
to the solid cylinder.
Meanwhile, for the experiment part 2, we found out that when the distance between 2
masses longer, time taken to let the drive weight to reach the bottom point longer. This is
because the longer the distance between the masses, the higher the inertia of moment, hence,
the lower the angular acceleration. So more time needed in order to let the drive weight
reaches the bottom point.
Besides, we also found out that the heavier the mass, time taken to let the drive weight
to reach the bottom point longer. This is because the heavier the mass, the higher the inertia
of moment, hence, the lower the angular acceleration. So more time needed in order to let the
drive weight reaches the bottom point.
There is some percentage error in the experiment. This is due to some errors such as
human error and random error. For human error, there is some delay when we take the time
taken as the drive weight reached the bottom point. This is because one of the member need
to observe whether the drive weight have reach the bottom point or not and another member
handled the stopwatch. Hence, there is some delay when both members communicate with
each other in order to record the time taken as the drive weight reached the bottom point. The
random error is affected by the environment where the experiment carried out. For an
example, there is some air movement in the laboratory which produced by the air conditioner,
hence, this will affect the quality of the result. So in order to improve the accuracy of the
result, the experiment should carried out at a place without air movement.

Industrial application
Flywheels are often used to provide continuous energy in systems where the energy
source is not continuous. In such cases, the flywheel stores energy when torque is applied by
the energy source, and it releases stored energy when the energy source is not applying torque
to it. For example, a flywheel is used to maintain constant angular velocity of
the crankshaft in a reciprocating engine. In this case, the flywheel which is mounted on the

crankshaft stores energy when torque is exerted on it by a firing piston, and it releases energy
to its mechanical loads when no piston is exerting torque on it. Other examples of this
are friction motors, which use flywheel energy to power devices such as toy cars.
A flywheel may also be used to supply intermittent pulses of energy at transfer rates
that exceed the abilities of its energy source, or when such pulses would disrupt the energy
supply (e.g., public electric network). This is achieved by accumulating stored energy in the
flywheel over a period of time, at a rate that is compatible with the energy source, and then
releasing that energy at a much higher rate over a relatively short time. For example,
flywheels are used in riveting machines to store energy from the motor and release it during
the riveting operation.
The phenomenon of precession has to be considered when using flywheels in
vehicles. A rotating flywheel responds to any momentum that tends to change the direction of
its axis of rotation by a resulting precession rotation. A vehicle with a vertical-axis flywheel
would experience a lateral momentum when passing the top of a hill or the bottom of a valley
(roll momentum in response to a pitch change). Two counter-rotating flywheels may be
needed to eliminate this effect. This effect is leveraged in reaction wheels, a type of flywheel
employed in satellites in which the flywheel is used to orient the satellite's instruments
without thruster rockets.

Conclusion
This report has discussed the momentum of inertia of a gyroscope disk by
measurement of its angular acceleration. Where the hollow cylinder took longer time in order
to let the drive weight to reach the bottom compared with solid cylinder due to its inertia. The
objectives of this experiment was achieved. But due to some errors, the value that we get may
slightly different from the theoretical value.