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

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

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

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

After the collision, the rotational kinetic energy can be found because we now know the final angular velocity and the final moment of inertia.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

But μ can be found from the time of vibration of the torsion system when we know its moment of inertia I, and this can be determined.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various