NCEA Level 3 Physics Mechanics Practice Exam 2025 – Complete Study Resource

Increasing the distance of mass from the axis of an object's rotation leads to an increase in the moment of inertia. The moment of inertia is a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotational motion and depends on both the mass of the object and the distribution of that mass relative to the axis of rotation. Specifically, the moment of inertia (I) is calculated using the formula \(I = \sum m_i r_i^2\), where \(m_i\) is the mass of each point in the object and \(r_i\) is the distance of that mass from the axis of rotation.

As the distance (r) increases, the value of \(r^2\) increases, which results in a higher moment of inertia. This means that as mass is moved further from the axis, the object becomes more difficult to rotate. Therefore, it fundamentally increases the moment of inertia. This concept is crucial in understanding how objects behave when subjected to rotational forces and is vital in fields such as engineering and physics.

The other options do not accurately represent the relationship between distance from the axis and moment of inertia, as increasing the distance cannot decrease the moment of inertia or have no effect on it, nor does it directly create angular acceleration, which