Interactive Simulation

Moment of Inertia: Rolling and Sliding Down an Incline

Open the activity below and explore the concept visually. Use the category link to return to the broader Rotation collection.

Description
This is a simulation of objects sliding and rolling down an incline. This is a simulation of five objects on an inclined plane. The cube slides without friction, the other objects roll without slipping. The different mass distributions cause the rolling objects to have different rotational inertia, so they roll down the incline with different accelerations.