Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / Prelims / Mathematics IV / 6 / b

The disc is rigidly attached, so its rotation axis is perpendicular to its face. Its moment of inertia about its center is $M{a}^2/2$: with surface mass density $M/(\pi a^2)$, an annulus of radius $s$ contributes $s^2[M/(\pi a^2)]2\pi sds$, whose integral is $M{a}^2/2$. The parallel axis theorem adds $M{d}^2$ at the pivot. Adding the rod's moment of inertia gives

The rod and disc contribute restoring torques $-mg(\ell /2)\sin \theta$ and $-Mgd\sin \theta$, respectively. Using i in the rotational equation of motion givesOnly the disc's center of mass enters its gravitational torque; its finite radius enters its moment of inertia. The formula is also regular at $M=m$, although the source happens to exclude that value.

The small-angle approximation $\sin \theta =\theta +O({\theta }^3)$ reduces ii to $\ddot{\theta }+{\omega }^2\theta =0$, whereThe coefficient is positive, so the solution is simple harmonic motion, $\theta (t)=C\cos \omega t+D\sin \omega t$. Here $\omega$ is the angular frequency; the ordinary frequency and period are

For a fixed attachment ratio $\delta >0$, making the disc much heavier than the rod givesIf the disc is also small relative to the attachment distance, $\alpha /\delta =a/d\to 0$, its moment of inertia about its own center is negligible compared with $M{d}^2$. ThusThis is a simple pendulum with a point mass at the disc's center and effective length $d$; it is length $\ell$ only if $d=\ell$. Even before the small-angle approximation, its equation tends to $\ddot{\theta }=-(g/d)\sin \theta$.

If $\delta$ is allowed to tend to zero together with the other parameters, the bare conditions $\alpha \ll 1$ and $\mu \gg 1$ do not alone justify that reduction. The needed dominance conditions are $\mu \delta \gg 1$, $\mu {\delta }^2\gg 1$, and $\alpha /\delta \ll 1$, so that the rod contributes negligible gravitational torque and moment of inertia, and the disc behaves as a point mass. They follow automatically in the combined limit with fixed $\delta >0$.