The moment of inertia of a tennis ball about its center of mass is one of the physical properties that determine how the ball reacts in play, yet there is no measurement of this parameter found in the literature nor is it mentioned in the Rules of Tennis. The moment of inertia determines how much spin the ball acquires for a given angular impulse applied by the racket's strings and also how the ball behaves when it bounces. When a ball bounces, the friction between the ball and the court surface produces a substantial torque. For a given torque, the magnitude of the moment of inertia determines whether the ball slides throughout the bounce or goes into the rolling mode, and if it does roll, the moment of inertia determines the ratio of final horizontal velocity to initial horizontal velocity.1

Topics
Friction, Rotational dynamics
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© 2005 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2005
American Association of Physics Teachers
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