"Tensors"

I was just going through concepts of rotational motion in a new book and it was given that Moment of inertia is neither a scalar quantity nor a vector quantity... it is a "TENSOR" quantity... can anyone explain about this quantity?

#Physics

Easy Math Editor

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Comments

these quantities have their own degrees like the polynomials have .. !! with a degree zero we have scalar, with one we have vector and then for two which is nothing but with a tensor.. !

Ramesh Goenka - 7 years, 7 months ago

yes it is ...Tensors are in general classified on the basis of Rank(no of indices required to completely specify the orientation,direction of any physical parameter in space)...also, vectors are tensors of rank"1" and scalars are tensora of rank"0"..initially it appeals as if it is absurd,once you visualize you will get it,for much deeper understanding you can refer tests on "mechanics of solids"...which primaria concerns usage of tensors to define a stress...

Dinesh Parthasarathy - 7 years, 7 months ago

okay.. now i got it.... thanks for the help.. :)

A Former Brilliant Member - 7 years, 7 months ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$