Four 50-g point masses are at the corners of a square with 20-cm sides. What is the moment of inertia of this system about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the square and passing through its center

moment of inertia I ≈ 4.0 x 10⁻³ kg.m²

Explanation:

given

point masses = 50g = 0.050kg

note: m₁=m₂=m₃=m₄=50g = 0.050kg

distance, r, from masses to eachother = 20cm = 0.20m

the distance, d, of each mass point from the centre of the mass, using pythagoras theorem is given by

= (20√2)/ 2 = 10√2 cm =14.12 x 10⁻² m  

moment of inertia is a proportion of the opposition of a body to angular acceleration about a given pivot that is equivalent to the entirety of the products of every component of mass in the body and the square of the component's distance from the center

mathematically,

I = ∑m×d²

remember, a square will have 4 equal points

I = ∑m×d² = 4(m×d²)

I = 4 × 0.050 × (14.12 x 10⁻² m)²

I = 0.20 × 1.96 × 10⁻²

I =  3.92 x 10⁻³ kg.m²

I ≈ 4.0 x 10⁻³ kg.m²

attached is the diagram of the equation