Q55E

Question

A \({\bf{1}}.{\bf{80}} - {\bf{kg}}\) connecting rod from a car engine is pivoted about a horizontal knife edge as shown in Fig. E14.55. The center of gravity of the rod was located by balancing and is \({\bf{0}}.{\bf{200}}\,{\bf{m}}\) from the pivot. When the rod is set into small-amplitude oscillation, it makes \(100\) complete swings in \({\bf{120}}\,{\bf{s}}\). Calculate the moment of inertia of the rod about the rotation axis through the pivot.



Step-by-Step Solution

Verified
Answer

The moment of inertia of the rod about the rotation axis through the pivot is \(0.129\,{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{m}}^{\rm{2}}}\)   

1Step 1: Identification of given data

Mass of the connecting rod \(m = 1.80\,{\rm{kg}}\) 

Center of gravity of the rod was located by balancing and is \(d = {\bf{0}}.{\bf{200}}\,{\bf{m}}\) from the pivot

Time taken to complete 100 swings = \(120\,{\rm{s}}\) 

2Step 2: Significance of time period of physical pendulum

The letter "\(T\) " stands for the period of time needed for the pendulum to complete one complete oscillation.

\(T = 2\pi \sqrt {\frac{I}{{mgd}}} \)                                                                                                            …(i)

Where, \(m\) is mass, \(I\) is the moment of inertia, \(d\) is the distance of center of gravity from pivot  and \(g\) is the acceleration due to gravity

3Step 3: Determining the moment of inertia of the rod about the rotation axis through the pivot

Time period of rod is time taken to complete 1 swing 

\(\begin{aligned}{\underline{\phantom{xx}}}T = \frac{{120\,{\rm{s}}}}{{100}}\\ = 1.2\,{\rm{s}}\end{aligned}\) 

Rearranging the equation (i)

 \(\begin{aligned}{\underline{\phantom{xx}}}\frac{T}{{2\pi }} = \sqrt {\frac{I}{{mgd}}} \\{\left( {\frac{T}{{2\pi }}} \right)^2} = \frac{I}{{mgd}}\\I = mgd{\left( {\frac{T}{{2\pi }}} \right)^2}\end{aligned}\)

Substitute all the values in above equation

\(\begin{aligned}{\underline{\phantom{xx}}}I = \left( {1.80\,{\rm{kg}}} \right)\left( {9.8\,{\rm{m/}}{{\rm{s}}^{\rm{2}}}} \right)\left( {0.2\,{\rm{m}}} \right){\left( {\frac{{1.2{\rm{s}}}}{{2\pi }}} \right)^2}\\ = 0.129\,{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{m}}^{\rm{2}}}\end{aligned}\)

Hence the moment of inertia of the rod about the rotation axis through the pivot is \(0.129\,{\rm{kg}} \cdot {{\rm{m}}^{\rm{2}}}\)