Moment of Inertia
Most recent answer: 10/22/2007
Q:
I have been calculating the moment of inertia for a con-rod, does a value of 0.075Kgm^2 sound reasonable. I used the formula for the periodic time for a compound pendulum, and rearranged for k, and put this into the formula for the moment of inertia
- Gareth (age 19)
Wales
- Gareth (age 19)
Wales
A:
I guess a con-rod is a connecting rod. You dont say what its from- a
little motorcycle or a big tractor, etc. We could tell if the answer is
close if we knew the dimensions etc. Still, the number you give sounds
very reasonable for the moment of inertia of a medium-size part from a
car engine. However, if you took some part and, say, doubled each of
its dimensions, the moment of inertia would be 32 times bigger. So
theres no way we can be at all accurate without knowing detailed
specs. You also have to be careful that the moment of inertia depends
strongly on which point in the object its measured around. It also
depends on the direction of the axis chosen, but Im guessing youve
picked the direction to get the largest moment.
Mike W.
Mike W.
(published on 10/22/2007)