Deriving the Moment of Inertia of a Hollow Sphere with Uniform Density

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on deriving the moment of inertia for a hollow sphere with uniform density, which is expressed as I = 2/3 MR^2. The derivation involves integrating the mass elements over the sphere's surface, using the distance from the axis of rotation and the surface density. Key equations include the surface element dS and the integration limits for the angles involved. The final result is achieved through a series of simplifications and substitutions in the integral calculations. This derivation clarifies the mathematical process needed to arrive at the moment of inertia for a hollow sphere.
doerame
I've been working on deriving the moment of inertia of a hollow sphere (ie basketball) with uniform density for a while now with no success... Can anyone show me this derivation?

The moment of inertia is I = 2/3 MR^2 . If anyone can help me get to this step, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Okay,that's a link to a good calculation for the moment of inertia of a full sphere.
You need for a hollow sphere.
I=\int r^{2} dm (1)
,where 'r' is the distance between the mass element 'dm' and the axis of rotation.
dm=\rho_{surf.sphere}dS (2)
,where
\rho_{surf.sphere}=\frac{M_{sphere}}{S_{sphere}}=\frac{M}{4\pi R^{2}} (3)

The distance 'r' to the axis of rotation chosen as Oz is
r=R\sin \theta(4)
The sphere surface element is
dS=R^{2}d\Omega=R^{2}\sin\theta d\theta d\phi(5)

Then I becomes
I=\int_{0}^{2\pi} d\phi\int_{0}^{\pi} d\theta (R^{2}\sin^{2}\theta)(\frac{M}{4\pi R^{2}}) R^{2}\sin\theta (6)

Make simplifications and integrate after \phi,simplify again and u'll get
I=\frac{MR^{2}}{2}\int_{0}^{\pi} d\theta \sin^{3}\theta =\frac{MR^{2}}{2}(-)\int_{1}^{-1} (1-u^{2}) du =\frac{MR^{2}}{2}(u-\frac{u^{3}}{3})|_{-1}^{+1}=\frac{MR^{2}}{2}\frac{4}{3}=\frac{2MR^{2}}{3}(7)
,where i made use of
\sin^{3}\theta=\sin\theta(1-\cos^{2}\theta)(8)
and the substitution
\cos\theta\rightarrow u (9)
,under which the limits of integration transform in the prescribed way.

Daniel.

I=
 
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