Required torque to accelerate a disk of a certain mass

AI Thread Summary
To calculate the torque needed to accelerate a 100 kg disk with a radius of 0.6 meters from 0 to 6 rpm in 10 seconds, the moment of inertia is determined to be 18 kg-m². The average angular velocity change is calculated as 0.628319 rad/s, leading to an angular acceleration of 0.0628319 rad/s². The resulting torque is approximately 1.13097 N-m, confirming that torque is expressed in Newton-meters. Clarification on units indicates that torque can be represented in both N-m and Kg-m, with the former being the standard. The calculations and understanding of units are confirmed as correct.
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Homework Statement



(Actually, this is not a homework, but a project I'm trying to accomplish
but I have almost forgotten physics...)

There is a disk weighting 100kg with a radius of 0.6 meters. What would be the torque needed to accelerate the disk from 0 rpm to 6 rpm in 10 seconds?

Variables:

m=100 kg
r=0.6 meters
rpmA=0 rpm
rpmB=6 rpm
t=10 seconds

Homework Equations



If I'm not wrong:

The mass moment of inertia of a disk with a uniform mass is considered to be:
(m*r^2)/2
where m=mass, r= radius

Converting rpm to radians/sec:
rad/s = rpm * (pi/30)
where pi = 3.14159...


The Attempt at a Solution



So, trying to solve the problem:

moment of inertia of the disk
I = (m*r^2)/2
= (100*0.6^2)/2
= 18

Average angular velocity in radians per second
v = (rpmB-rpmA) * (pi/30)
= 0.628319

Angular acceleration in rad/s^2
a = Angular velocity in radians per sec /t sec
= v/t
= 0.0628319

Torque
T = Angular acceleration * Moment of Inertia
= a*I
= 1.13097

Is this correct?
Is the above result of Torque in Kg-m?
What exactly is the unit of the above inertia result? Is it Kg-m^2 ?

Any help will be appreciated!
 
Last edited:
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Your method looks correct. I haven't checked your math. Note that rpmB-rpmA is not the average angular velocity. It is the change in angular velocity. In any case, that's what you want -- the change in angular velocity. That is because, for uniform acceleration, a = (change in v)/time.

Torque has units of Newton-metres.

1 N = 1 kg*m/s^2
1 Nm = 1 kg*m^2/s^2

Moment of inertia has units of kg*m^2...and multiplying by the angular acceleration to get torque gives you the missing 1/s^2.
 
cepheid said:
Your method looks correct. I haven't checked your math. Note that rpmB-rpmA is not the average angular velocity. It is the change in angular velocity. In any case, that's what you want -- the change in angular velocity. That is because, for uniform acceleration, a = (change in v)/time.

Torque has units of Newton-metres.

1 N = 1 kg*m/s^2
1 Nm = 1 kg*m^2/s^2

Moment of inertia has units of kg*m^2...and multiplying by the angular acceleration to get torque gives you the missing 1/s^2.

cepheid, thanks for the reply!

Yes, it is the change in angular velocity not the average -that was stupid!

But I'm still confused about the output torque unit of the above calculation. On this site http://nmbtc.com/Calculators/converter.swf" it has Kg-m and N-m torque units. Should I consider the above result as N-m? If so, that would mean that it requires about 10 times less torque than if the output unit is Kg-m!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nevermind, just found an example which used Kg and meters and the output torque unit was Newton meters! So it is N-m! :smile:
 
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