Pairwise moment-of-inertia identity ($I=\frac{1}{2M}{\sum }_{j<k}{m}_j{m}_k{r}_{jk}^2$)

For positive masses in their centre of mass frame, ${\sum }_{j<k}{m}_j{m}_k|{\mathbf{r}}_j-{\mathbf{r}}_k{|}^2=M{\sum }_k{m}_k{r}_k^2$. Thus the scalar inertia $I=\frac{1}{2}{\sum }_k{m}_k{r}_k^2$ equals $(2M{)}^{-1}{\sum }_{j<k}{m}_j{m}_k{r}_{jk}^2$. The identity compares total spatial extent with pairwise separations.

Let $R$ be the actual largest pairwise separation of positive masses in their centre of mass frame. The pairwise moment-of-inertia identity gives $m_{(1)}{m}_{(2)}{R}^2/(2M)\le I\le R^2{\sum }_{j<k}{m}_j{m}_k/(2M)$. Consequently the scalar inertia is comparable to $R^2$, independently of configuration.