13. Rotational Inertia & Energy
Moment of Inertia of Systems
12PRACTICE PROBLEM
An industrial conveyor belt is designed to transport packages to different processing areas within a facility. Along one section of the conveyor, five identical packages are placed at equal intervals, L, on a lightweight frame that can be considered massless. Each package has a mass of M. For maintenance purposes, the entire section can be rotated about a vertical axis passing through the package at the rightmost end, perpendicular to the length of the conveyor. Calculate the moment of inertia of the five packages about this axis of rotation.
An industrial conveyor belt is designed to transport packages to different processing areas within a facility. Along one section of the conveyor, five identical packages are placed at equal intervals, L, on a lightweight frame that can be considered massless. Each package has a mass of M. For maintenance purposes, the entire section can be rotated about a vertical axis passing through the package at the rightmost end, perpendicular to the length of the conveyor. Calculate the moment of inertia of the five packages about this axis of rotation.