Float a water soaked ping-pong ball in a can of water (plastic canor a tin can)
ID: 2258471 • Letter: F
Question
Float a water soaked ping-pong ball in a can of water (plastic canor a tin can) held more than a meter above the rigid floor. Thendrop the can. What happens to the ball as both drop (and what doesit say about surface tension)? More dramatically, what happens tothe ball, and why, when the can makes an impact with thefloor? Float a water soaked ping-pong ball in a can of water (plastic canor a tin can) held more than a meter above the rigid floor. Thendrop the can. What happens to the ball as both drop (and what doesit say about surface tension)? More dramatically, what happens tothe ball, and why, when the can makes an impact with thefloor? Float a water soaked ping-pong ball in a can of water (plastic canor a tin can) held more than a meter above the rigid floor. Thendrop the can. What happens to the ball as both drop (and what doesit say about surface tension)? More dramatically, what happens tothe ball, and why, when the can makes an impact with thefloor? Float a water soaked ping-pong ball in a can of water (plastic canor a tin can) held more than a meter above the rigid floor. Thendrop the can. What happens to the ball as both drop (and what doesit say about surface tension)? More dramatically, what happens tothe ball, and why, when the can makes an impact with thefloor?Explanation / Answer
I think that once the can is dropped and is in free fall, the ball will sink due to surface tension. In free fall gravity is sort of canceled out by the fact the can is accelerating with the force of gravity, so the fact that the ball has lower density wont stop it from "sinking".Once the can hits the floor the buoyancy of the ball will become effective and it will start floating again, quite suddenly due the rapid deceleration of the can, and the ball may very well pop out of the can.
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