A square plate having a mass of 120 g and an edge of 5.0 cm rotates about one of its edges. Determine the torque acting on the plate if it undergoes a uniform angular acceleration of 0.2 rad/s ^2 .

Step-by-step solution

The moment of inertia of a square plate of mass m and side length a about one of its edges is given by: I = m a^2 3 Given: m = 120 g = 0.12 kg a = 5.0 cm = 0.05 m Substituting the values: I = 0.12 (0.05)^2 3 I = 0.04 0.0025 = 1.0 10⁻⁴ kg m ^2 The torque is given by: = I Given = 0.2 rad/s ^2 : = (1.0 10⁻⁴) 0.2 = 2.0 10⁻⁵ N m