I have a problem with the idea of adding angular accelerations this way to calculate the moment of inertia because they are about different axes. In post #56 we have
View attachment 366447
Note the last three words in the last sentence, ". . . is the ratio between the torque applied and the resulting angular acceleration
about that axis." In other words, to find the MoI,
- Select an axis.
- Find an expression for the torque about the selected axis
- Find an expression for the ensuing angular acceleration about the same axis
- Divide the first expression by the second to obtain the MoI about the selected axis.
What happens when, as in this problem, one has angular accelerations about two different axes? If one conflates "resulting" with "resultant" and takes the ratio of the resultant torque to the resultant acceleration, then this ratio represents the moment of inertia about which of the two axes? The first one? The second one? Some other axis? Without a specific reference axis the moment of inertia makes no sense.
View attachment 366448Nevertheless, I will do a calculation to get some results that illustrate why the resultant approach leads to trouble.
The figure shows a hoop of radius ##R## and mass ##m## orbiting point O. The center of the hoop is at fixed radius ##2R## from point O. A constant tangential force ##F_{spin}## acts on the hoop so that the spin angular acceleration, ##\alpha_{spin}##, is clockwise. In addition, a constant tangential force ##F_{orb.}## acts at the CM of the hoop so that the orbital angular acceleration, ##\alpha_{orb.}##, is counterclockwise.
Find the ratio of the net torque to the net angular acceleration.
Solution
The resulting angular accelerations are
##\alpha_{spin}=-\dfrac{F_{spin}R}{mR^2}~;~~\alpha_{orb.}=\dfrac{F_{orb.}(2R)}{m(2R)^2}\implies \alpha_{net}=\dfrac{F_{orb.}}{2mR}-\dfrac{F_{spin}}{mR}=\dfrac{F_{orb.}-2F_{spin}}{2mR}.##
The ratio of the net torque to the net acceleration is
$$\text{Ratio}=2mR\frac{F_{orb}(2R)-F_{spin}R}{F_{orb.}-2F_{spin}}=2mR^2\left(\frac{2F_{orb.}-F_{spin}}{F_{orb.}-2F_{spin}}\right).$$This ratio makes no sense as an expression for a moment of inertia because the external forces can be adjusted independently to give anything, including zero and negative values.
Placing a constraint on the angular accelerations, e.g. ##\alpha_{spin}=\beta \alpha_{orb.}## will result in a constraint between forces ##F_{spin}=\gamma F_{orb.}## so that $$\text{Ratio}=2mR^2\left(\frac{2-\gamma}{1-2\gamma}\right).$$The expression is still in trouble because of those pesky negative signs.