A solid sphere of mass 5 kg and radius 10 cm is kept in contact with another solid sphere of mass 10 kg and radius 20 cm. The moment of inertia of this pair of spheres about the tangent passing through the point of contact is kg m2.
- 0.18
- 0.72
- 0.36
- 0.63
Answer
(4) 0.63
Solution
The common tangent at the point of contact is perpendicular to the line joining the centres, so each centre is at a distance equal to its own radius from this axis.
For a solid sphere about a tangent (parallel axes theorem): I = 25MR2 + MR2 = 75MR2
Sphere 1: I1 = 75 5 (0.1)2 = 0.07 kg m2
Sphere 2: I2 = 75 10 (0.2)2 = 0.56 kg m2
I = I1 + I2 = 0.07 + 0.56
I = 0.63 kg m2
Answer: (4)