Back to 10.5 Calculating Moments of Inertia

10.5 Exercise 5

Avg difficulty 2.5

The moment of inertia of a long rod spun around an axis through one end perpendicular to its length is mL2/3m L^{2} / 3. Why is this moment of inertia greater than it would be if you spun a point mass m at the location of the center of mass of the rod (at L/2) (that would be mL2/4m L^{2} / 4)?

OpenStax University Physics Volume 1, 10.5 Calculating Moments of Inertia, exercise 5

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Adapted from University Physics Volume 1 © 2016 Rice University. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Source: University Physics Volume 1. Imported at revision db44eb9.