Demo 06-01 Angular Acceleration Machine

This device illustrates the application of the rotational analog of Newton's second law, t = I a. Two weights can be positioned symmetrically along an arm that rotates in a vertical plane around its center, varying the moment of inertia of the rotating arm. A weight passing over pulleys of varying radius provides the torque that rotates the arm, as Figure 1 illustrates. The acceleration is shown for several moments of inertia and torques. To facilitate measurement of the angular acceleration, a series of equally spaced marks are included around the center of the rotation, and a digital clock gives the time in seconds and frames. The procedure discussed in Disc 1 can be used to determine the angular acceleration from the data that can be taken on angular position versus time