rotational inertia

rotary inertia of an object or system of objects in motion about an axis that may or may not pass through the object or system. The Earth has orbital angular momentum by reason of its annual revolution about the Sun and spin angular momentum because…

For Galileo, the principle of inertia was fundamental to his central scientific task: he had to explain how it is possible that if Earth is really spinning on its axis and orbiting the Sun we do not sense that motion. The principle of inertia helps to provide the answer: Since…

…flywheel is given a high rotational inertia; i.e., most of its weight is well out from the axis. A wheel with a heavy rim connected to the central hub by spokes or a web (wheel A in the Figure) has a high rotational inertia. Many flywheels used on reciprocating engines…

…physics, quantitative measure of the rotational inertia of a body—i.e., the opposition that the body exhibits to having its speed of rotation about an axis altered by the application of a torque (turning force). The axis may be internal or external and may or may not be fixed. The moment…

…quantity I that expresses the rotational inertia of the rigid body in analogy to the way m expresses the inertial resistance to changes in linear motion. One would expect to find that the angular momentum is given byand that the torque (twisting force) is given by