A coaxial shell of radius and thickness has mass . Integrating squared radius against mass, the moment of inertia of a uniform solid cylinder about its axis is
On the smooth incline, no tangential contact force produces spin, so the initially stationary cylinder simply slides with acceleration . Therefore .
For rolling without slipping, let be uphill static friction and the downward translational acceleration. Newton's second law, the rotational torque equation, and the contact constraint give
With , these give and . The rolling-time factor on a straight incline is consequently
The required friction is ; the stated no-slip motion presupposes sufficient static friction. At an instantaneously stationary contact point it does no work. Gravitational potential energy is shared between translational and rotational kinetic energy, explaining why rolling accelerates more slowly than the smooth slide.