Editing Inclined Plane (section)

== Why This Works ==

===Short Explanation===
When something rolls down a hill or slope, we know that it will accelerate because of the force of gravity. However, we don't usually think about how ''much'' it will accelerate, which depends on two things: the shape that is rolling, and how hollow the shape is. When we rolled the solid spheres, we see that they all accelerated at the same rate, even though they were made of different materials. This is because they are the ''same shape'', and so they will accelerate the same down a slope! We saw the same thing happen with the solid cylinders, but then we saw that a hollow cylinder rolls slower than a solid cylinder. This is because a hollow shape has a different center of mass than a filled shape. The ''Center of Mass'' of an object is a spot in space where the mass of the object is centered around. The center of mass doesn't have to be at a spot in the object's mass. For a hollow shape, the center of mass is in the hollow area, so it has to transfer any motion along the outside, which takes longer. The filled cylinder can transfer motion through its center, since the center of mass is within the object's mass. It is faster to go through the center than to go around the outside, so the solid cylinder will always roll faster! The solid cylinder, however, rolls slower than the solid sphere. This is because every spot on the outside of a sphere is the same distance from its center, while every spot on a cylinder is '''not''' the same distance from its center. A solid sphere will always roll faster down a slope than a solid cylinder!

===Full Explanation===
The inclined plane is a common introductory topic in physics. On a plane that is at a certain angle you can place an object, and then calculate the forces acting on the object as well as the acceleration of the object. In this case, however, we are looking at rolling objects on an inclined plane. For rolling objects, the calculations we need to do are a little different.

We see that the two solid spheres roll at the same rate. Even though they were made of different materials, and therefore would have different amounts of force acting upon them, they roll down the slope at the same rate because they are the ''same shape''. We also see that the solid cylinder rolls slower than a solid sphere, and a hollow cylinder rolls slower than a filled cylinder. When we are looking at rolling shapes, we have to look at the shape's ''Moment of Inertia'', and how it corresponds to the shape's velocity:
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: left; margin-right: auto"
|'''Shape'''
|'''Moment of Inertia'''
|'''Velocity at Bottom of Incline'''
|-
|Solid Sphere|| '''I''' = <sup>2</sup>/<sub>5</sub> ''m''*''r'' <sup>2</sup>|| '''v''' = (<sup>10</sup>/<sub>7</sub> ''g''*''h'')<sup>1/2</sup>
|-
|Solid Cylinder|| '''I''' = <sup>1</sup>/<sub>2</sub> ''m''*''r'' <sup>2</sup>|| '''v''' = (<sup>4</sup>/<sub>3</sub> ''g''*''h'')<sup>1/2</sup>
|-
|Hollow Sphere|| '''I''' = <sup>2</sup>/<sub>3</sub> ''m''*''r'' <sup>2</sup>|| '''v''' = (<sup>5</sup>/<sub>6</sub> ''g''*''h'')<sup>1/2</sup>
|-
|Hollow Cylinder|| '''I''' = ''m''*''r''<sup>2</sup>|| '''v''' = (''g''*''h'')<sup>1/2</sup>
|-
|}
Where ''m'' is ''m''ass, ''r'' is ''r''adius, ''g'' is ''g''ravity, and ''h'' is ''h''eight of the incline.

The moment of inertia relies on where the center of mass is for the shape, and therefore how the mass is distributed throughout the shape. If a shape has mass where the center of mass is located, such as the solid sphere or solid cylinder, then it will have a lower moment of inertia due to it. If a shape does not have mass where the center of mass is located, such as the hollow sphere or hollow cylinder, then it will have a higher moment of inertia. The higher the moment of inertia, the more energy is required to keep rotating, and therefore less energy is available for linear movement.

We see with the filled cylinders of varying size that the velocity is independent of the size. This is also seen with the equations we have above; Although the radius and mass of the object is used to calculate the inertia, the end velocity only uses a constant, the acceleration of gravity, and the height of the incline. This is because the end velocity is independent of the mass or the size of the object, and is dependent on the dimensions of the object itself, and therefore on the object's moment of inertia.