This note describes how to theoretically calculate and experimentally measure the moment of inertia of a Ping-Pong® ball. The theoretical calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements that can be reproduced in an introductory physics laboratory.
REFERENCES
1.
L.
Pauchart
and S.
Rica
, “Contact and compression of elastic spherical shells: The physics of a ‘ping-pong’ ball
,” Phil. Mag.
78
225
–233
(1998
).2.
Paulo A. de
Souza
Jr. and Gutemberg Hespanha
Brasil
, “Assessing uncertainties in a simple and cheap experiment
,” Eur. J. Phys.
30
, 615
–622
(2009
).3.
Howard
Brody
, “The moment of inertia of a tennis ball
,” Phys. Teach.
43
, 503
–505
(2005
).4.
See, for example, physics.info/rotational-inertia/practice. shtml.
5.
David
Halliday
, Robert
Resnick
, and Jearl
Walker
, Fundamentals of Physics
, 6th ed. (Wiley
, Hoboken, NJ
, 2001
), p. 354
.© 2012 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2012
American Association of Physics Teachers
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