A uniform solid sphere of mass 0.80kg and radius 0.12m rolls without slipping along a straight, horizontal track. Its center of mass is observed to move at 4.0ms−1.
The moment of inertia of a solid sphere about an axis through its center is I=52MR2.
(a) Calculate the translational kinetic energy of the sphere.
(b) Calculate the rotational kinetic energy of the sphere about its center of mass.
(c) Determine the fraction of the sphere’s total kinetic energy that is rotational.