A Rotational Dynamics Laboratory Upgrade

In our first-semester introductory physics laboratory, we have an exercise on rotational dynamics. We have recently upgraded the equipment that we use in that exercise without changing the actual exercise. The new equipment has performed well so far, and we wanted to share what we did with others who may be looking for a relatively inexpensive way to outfit a laboratory on rotational dynamics. We will describe the physics of the exercise and what we ask our students to do. We will describe the components we purchased, what they cost, and how we assembled the apparatus. Finally, we will present some results from the exercise using the apparatus we built.