Moment of Inertia Lab

Determine the moment of inertia of a canned food item.

TWO canned food item, ruler, motion sensor and computer

• fast can
• slow can

Bring two cans to race day. Bring one can to compete in the fastest can race and one can to compete in the slowest can race. The following conditions must be met:

There are NO RESTRICTIONS on the height, radius or mass of the can.

There are four ROLLING REQUIREMENTS.

• The can must roll in a straight line along an inclined surface.
• The can must begin rolling solely due to the influence of gravity.
• The can must roll the entire length of the track.
• The can must begin rolling on its own and maintain rolling along a track inclined at 2.5 degrees for a distance of at least 150 cm.
  
  

There are three CONTENT RESTRICTION.

• The contents of the can must fill the can. No large air pockets such as in a can of peanuts, pretzels, potato stick, or potato chips.
• NO soda cans
• NO paste or jellied foods (must be heterogeneous mixtures)
  
  

There is only one TEMPERATURE RESTRICTION. The contents must be at room temperature.

Elevate one edge of the lab table 7-10 cm. Roll your canned item down the table. Record the necessary measurements to calculate the moment of inertia.

HINTS

1. Draw an FBD

2. Sum TORQUES

3. Sum FORCES

Each team member will identify their two can’s moment of inertia.

• fast can
• slow can

Single elimination to verify team rankings.