First moment of area and second moment of area

  • Thread starter Thread starter harryiverson
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Area Moment
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The first moment of area is utilized to determine the centroid of a shape, while the second moment of area, also known as the moment of inertia, measures the resistance of a shape to bending in the x-y plane under torque in the z plane. The polar moment of inertia, which is distinct from the second moment of area, refers specifically to the moment of inertia about the polar (z) axis. Both the second moment of area and moment of inertia are defined relative to a specific axis and are crucial in structural mechanics, particularly in beam bending analysis.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of structural mechanics principles
  • Familiarity with the concepts of centroid and moment of inertia
  • Knowledge of beam bending equations
  • Basic grasp of calculus for area integrals
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the derivation of the first moment of area and its applications in finding centroids
  • Study the second moment of area and its role in beam bending analysis
  • Explore the polar moment of inertia and its significance in torsional analysis
  • Examine the parallel and perpendicular axis theorems as they apply to both moment of inertia and second moment of area
USEFUL FOR

Students and professionals in structural engineering, mechanical engineering, and physics who seek to deepen their understanding of moments of area and their applications in design and analysis.

harryiverson
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
i am perplexed as to the first moment of area and second of area; i would like to know
1. why they come (how they are figured out and distinguished from each other)
2. what is meaning of these 2 moment of area in terms of physics

what i have learned is that the first moment of area is used to find centroid and the second Of area (Inertia) is to find the resistance in x-y plane to torque in z plane.

btw i am also confused as to the idea of polar moment of inertia ; how it is different from the second moment of the inertia.

hope there are answers to my stupid questions. i just kind of feel lost.
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
i have viewed some utube video but they can't totally clear my doubt
 
How and how much did you learn about those three concepts?
 
a few line in my structural mechanics lecture notes that state their definition as well as their formula and some example of how they use.
 
harryiverson said:
what i have learned is that the first moment of area is used to find centroid
that is correct

harryiverson said:
and the second Of area (Inertia) is to find the resistance in x-y plane to torque in z plane.
btw i am also confused as to the idea of polar moment of inertia ; how it is different from the second moment of the inertia.

Be careful, the moment of inertia is NOT the same as the second moment of area. There is often some confusion because they are both denoted by I and both have similar looking integrals.

The moment of inertia is defined as I = \iint r^2 dm and you are correct in saying that we use this when we are thinking about torques applied to a system (analogous to Newton's 2nd law for linear acceleration) - we use M = I \ddot \theta. The moment of inertia is always defined relative to a given axis (eg. through the centroid, through the edge, etc). The polar moment of inertia is the moment of inertia about the polar (z) axis ('out of the page axis'). If you are familiar with cylindrical polar coordinates, it is the z-axis.

The second moment of area (also defined relative to a given axis) is defined as I = \iint r^2 dA and this is often used when we are talking about beam bending. I am not sure how familiar you are with beam bending equations, but it is used in equations relating bending moments to shear stress or deflections.

There are some similarities between them (e.g. parallel and perpendicular axis theorems operate in the same way operate for both)

So to sum up:
How are they different? By definition
Where do they come from? There are proofs on the internet that you can search up for these, so no point typing them up here

Hope that starts to help you clear up your confusion.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Lnewqban

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
3K
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
4K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
19K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
5K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
8K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K