The Moment of Inertia of a rigid body about a given axis is the sum of the products of each particle’s mass and the square of its distance from the axis of rotation. The Moment of Inertia is measured in kilogram-square meters (kg·m²). The moment of inertia plays a crucial role in rotational dynamics, governing how angular momentum and rotational kinetic energy are distributed in rotating systems. Mathematically, it can be expressed as:
Where:
- is the moment of inertia,
- rotated about an axis through its center and perpendicular to its length,
- is the perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation to each infinitesimal mass element.