A toy wheel of mass and radius rolls without slipping across a tabletop
PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · System of Particles and Rotational Motion · System of Particles and Rotational Motion
Problem
A toy wheel of mass 0.40kg and radius 0.10m rolls without slipping across a tabletop. At one instant, laboratory instruments show that 40% of the wheel’s total kinetic energy is rotational.
(a) Determine the moment of inertia of the wheel about its axle.
(b) Express this moment of inertia in the form I=kMR2 and state the numerical value of k.
(c) Using typical k values for a solid disk (0.50), a solid sphere (0.40), and a thin hoop (1.0), identify which of these shapes best describes the mass distribution of the toy wheel and briefly explain your reasoning.