Question

A metal can containing condensed mushroom soup has mass 230 g, height 10.6 cm and diameter 6.38 cm. It is placed at rest on its side at the top of a 3.00-m-long incline that is at 22.0° to the horizontal and is then released to roll straight down. It reaches the bottom of the incline after 1.50 s.

(a) Assuming mechanical energy conservation, calculate the moment of inertia of the can.

(b) Why can't the moment of inertia be calculated from

I = 1/2mr^2

for the cylindrical can?

Answer 1

(b) It can't be determined by this formula because this formula is applicable only when mass of cylinder is uniformly distributed but here mushroom and metal have different densities .