moment of inertia

American  

noun

Physics.

1. the sum of the products of the mass and the square of the perpendicular distance to the axis of rotation of each particle in a body rotating about an axis.

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moment of inertia British  

noun

1.  I.  the tendency of a body to resist angular acceleration, expressed as the sum of the products of the mass of each particle in the body and the square of its perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation

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moment of inertia Scientific  

/ mō′mənt /

1. A measure of a body's resistance to angular acceleration, equal to the product of the mass of the body and the square of its distance from the axis of rotation.

2. See also angular momentum torque

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Etymology

Origin of moment of inertia

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

They stretch their legs to create as large a moment of inertia as possible.

From Scientific American • Jul. 24, 2023

To do this, felines exploit the physical laws of classical mechanics: by placing their front paws close to their body, they reduce their moment of inertia.

From Scientific American • Jul. 24, 2023

As we would expect, an object that has a large moment of inertia I , such as Earth, has a very large angular momentum.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The quantity mr 2 is called the rotational inertia or moment of inertia of a point mass m a distance r from the center of rotation.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

I = moment of inertia of cross-section. b = breadth of lumber. h = depth of lumber.

From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Gillette, Halbert Powers