Rotational Dynamics — Physics STD 12 Science — Question

The moment of inertia (MI) of a body about a given rotation axis depends upon

1. the mass of the body and
2. the distribution of mass about the axis of rotation. These two factors can be separated by expressing the MI as the product of the mass (M) and the square of a particular distance (k) from the axis of rotation. This distance is called the radius of gyration and is defined as given above. Thus,
   $\begin{aligned} I & =\sum_i m_i r_i^2=M k^2 \\ \therefore k & =\sqrt{I / M}\end{aligned}$
   Physical significance : The radius of gyration is less if I is less, i.e., if the mass is distributed close to the axis; and it is more if I is more, i.e., if the mass is distributed away from the axis. Thus, it gives the idea about the distribution of mass about the axis of rotation.