Mass of a Rotating Cylinder

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The mass of a cylinder of radius R and height h, which is rotating at a constant angular speed w, can be found by integrating the infinitesimal mass element dm over the volume of the cylinder. See Figure 1 below 

 

It should be noted that the proper mass density is not a function of speed in this case. The mass element has the value 

 

The proper mass of the element is related to the proper mass density by

Thus Eq. (1) becomes

The mass of the rotating cylinder can now be found by integrating over the volume of the cylinder. Using cylindrical coordinates

The speed v of the mass element is related to the angular speed and the radius r through v = wr.

Make the substitution

Eq. (5) now becomes

Noting that M0 = r0V = 2pRhr0 we obtain the final solution


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