Experimentally optimizing a spinning disk by manipulating its mass distribution and radius

Independent Variable	Mass Distribution with respect to vertical axis [I]
Dependent Variable	Angular deceleration [θ s⁻²]
Controlled Variables	Mass of the disk [g], Voltage supplied [V]
	Radius of disk [mm], Thickness of disk [mm]

Table 2

Physical quantities studied in Experiment 2.

Independent Variable	Radius of Disk [mm]
Dependent Variable	Angular deceleration [θs⁻²]
Controlled Variables	Mass of the disk [g], Voltage supplied [V]
	Radius of disk [mm], Thickness of disk [mm]

Visual representation of experimental setup.

Table 3

Description of apparatus.

S. No.	Apparatus	Quantity	Least Count	Uncertainty
1	Scale (30 cm)	1	1 mm	0.5 mm
2	Digital Tachometer	1	1 RPM	1 RPM
3	Digital Weighing Scale	1	0.1 g	0.1 g
4	Digital Voltmeter	1	0.01 V	0.01 V

Table 4

Description of materials.

Material	Description
DC Motor	10 V with a flat base can be mounted on any flat surface. Thin metal axis.
Battery	2 V to 12 V .
Connecting wires	Made up of copper and insulated with thread.
Rheostat	A device with variable resistance.
Reflective tape	Stuck on the disk. Helps the tachometer record the RPM.
Metal disk	Mass −175 ± 1 g ; Radius - 50 ± 1 mm; Thickness - 0.3 ± 0.1 mm
Iron disk	Mass - 248 ± 1 g; Radius - 91 ± 1 mm; Thickness - 6 ± 1 mm
Copper disk	Mass - 245 ± 1 g; Radius - 78 ± 1 mm; Thickness - 6 ± 1 mm
Aluminum disk	Mass - 249 ± 1 g; Radius - 141 ± 1 mm; Thickness - 6 ± 1 mm
Small stainless-steel disk × 4	Mass 11 ± 1 g each. Used to add mass to the metal disk.
Stand	Used to position the Digital Tachometer.
Metal clamps × 2	Used to firmly attach the material on which the motor is mounted to the tabletop.
Blu-Tact	A rubbery material used to add mass to the disk.
M-Seal	An adhesive paste used to mound the motor onto any required surface.
Fevi-Quick	A very strong liquid adhesive.

Angular velocity versus time (a) 0 ± 0.01 cm (d₁), (b) 1.15 ± 0.01 cm (d₂), (c) 2.5 ± 0.01 cm (d₃) and (d) 3.85 ± 0.01 cm (d₄).

Table 5

Angular deceleration vs time.

S. No.	Setup 1	Setup 2	Setup 3	Setup 4
d (cm)	(d₁) = 0	(d₂) = 1.15 ± 0.01	(d₃) = 2.5 ± 0.01	(d₄) = 3.85 ± 0.01
$\bar{V} \pm ∆ \bar{V}$	(7.60 ± 6.06) V	(7.64 ± 0.07)	(7.66 ± 0.08) V	(7.64 ± 0.12) V
Time (s)	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s
0	207.5 ± 1.2	235.9 ± 2.1	231.5 ± 1.9	228.1 ± 0.7
10	143.1 ± 38.9	165.6 ± 3.7	158.4 ± 4.3	160.1 ± 5.6
20	78.7 ± 3.3	112.1 ± 5.9	112.6 ± 3.9	113.9 ± 3.7
30	52.0 ± 2.3	77.6 ± 1.9	79.0 ± 3.6	81.5 ± 4.0
40	34.8 ± 1.9	52.4 ± 1.7	60.1 ± 12.2	61.6 ± 5.1
50	20.3 ± 1.1	35.9 ± 1.8	38.5 ± 2.1	44.1 ± 1.6
60	7.4 ± 2.1	22.8 ± 1.7	25.7 ± 1.3	29.9 ± 2.4
70	-	10.6 ± 1.6	14.3 ± 1.8	20.6 ± 2.1
80	-	-	-	12.0 ± 0.4
90	-	-	-	5.1 ± 2.1

Table 6

Time rise and time fall.

	Time Rise	Time Fall
S. No.	$\bar{T_{1}} \pm ∆ \bar{T_{1}} (s)$	$\bar{T_{1}} \pm ∆ \bar{T_{1}} (s)$
Setup 1	41.23 ± 2.69	64.10 ± 0.95
Setup 2	53.75 ± 2.19	75.84 ± 1.80
Setup 3	53.66 ± 2.84	80.87 ± 1.20
Setup 4	58.85 ± 2.74	90.52 ± 0.60

Angular acceleration versus time (a) 0 ± 0.01 cm (d₁), (b) 1.15 ± 0.01 cm (d₂), (c) 2.5 ± 0.01 cm (d₃) and (d) 3.85 ± 0.01 cm (d₄).

Kinetic Energy versus Time (a) 0 ± 0.01 cm (d₁), (b) 1.15 ± 0.01 cm (d₂), (c) 2.5 ± 0.01 cm (d₃), and (d) 3.85 ± 0.01 cm (d₄).

Torque versus Time for Setup (a) 0 ± 0.01 cm (d₁), (b) 1.15 ± 0.01 cm (d₂), (c) 2.5 ± 0.01 cm (d₃), and (d) 3.85 ± 0.01 cm (d₄).

Torque versus time for disks of varying radii: (a) Radius - 78 ± 1 mm, (b) Radius - 91 ± 1 mm, and (c) Radius 141 ± 1 mm.

Table 7

Angular velocity versus time.

S. No.	Setup 1	Setup 2	Setup 3
Material	Copper	Iron	Aluminum
$\bar{V} \pm ∆ \bar{V}$	(9.32 ± 0.06) V	(9.51 ± 0.04) V	(9.72 ± 0.03) V
Time (s)	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s	( $\bar{ω} \pm ∆ \bar{ω}$ ) rad/s
0.0	209.4 ± 1.4	209.0 ± 0.9	209.8 ± 0.5
10.0	154.8 ± 4.8	167.0 ± 7.6	-
20.0	117.9 ± 0.8	137.1 ± 4.0	152.4 ± 6.9
30.0	106.6 ± 56.5	112.0 ± 3.0	-
40.0	60.4 ± 3.3	92.8 ± 2.2	121.6 ± 14.2
50.0	43.0 ± 0.5	76.0 ± 2.7	-
60.0	25.9 ± 2.7	58.4 ± 3.2	96.7 ± 14.7
70.0	13.4 ± 1.8	45.9 ± 3.1	-
80.0	-	34.3 ± 1.3	75.9 ± 12.2
90.0	-	24.1 ± 2.4	-
100.0	-	13.5 ± 2.6	59.3 ± 9.5
110.0	-	4.4 ± 4.7	-
120.0	-	-	46.1 ± 7.7
130.0	-	-	-
140.0	-	-	33.7 ± 2.3
150.0	-	-	-
160.0	-	-	24.9 ± 5.8
170.0	-	-	-
180.0	-	-	16.5 ± 5.9
190.0	-	-	-
200.0	-	-	7.6 ± 5.4

Table 8

Time rise and time fall.

-	Time Rise	Time Fall
	$\bar{T_{1}} \pm ∆ \bar{T_{1}} (s)$	$\bar{T_{1}} \pm ∆ \bar{T_{1}} (s)$
Copper	124.32 ± 2.69	76.33 ± 0.95
Iron	163.75 ± 2.19	113.63 ± 1.80
Aluminium	214.28 ± 2.85	212.46 ± 1.25

Angular velocity versus time (a) Radius − 78 ± 1 mm, (b) Radius − 91 ± 1 mm, and (c) Radius − 141 ± 1 mm.

Angular acceleration versus time (a) Radius - 78 ± 1 mm, (b) Radius - 91 ± 1 mm, and (c) Radius - 141 ± 1 mm.

Kinetic Energy versus time (a) Radius - 78 ± 1 mm, (b) Radius - 91 ± 1 mm, and (c) Radius - 141 ± 1 mm.

References

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijmce-2026-0010 | Journal eISSN: 2956-7068

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Language: English

Page range: 161 - 180

Submitted on: Jan 14, 2025

Accepted on: Dec 20, 2025

Published on: May 27, 2026

Published by: Harran University

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

torque,

MSC:

70B05,

70B10,

70E17,

03A99

Related subjects:

Computer sciences,

Computer sciences, other,

Engineering,

Introductions and overviews,

Physics,

© 2026 Aniket Nivesh, Pundikala Veeresha, Venu Gopal Peddinti, published by Harran University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 4 (2026): Issue 1 (June 2026)

Experimentally optimizing a spinning disk by manipulating its mass distribution and radius

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1

Table 1

Table 2

Fig. 2

Table 3

Table 4

Fig. 3

Table 5

Table 6

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 10

Table 7

Table 8

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

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