As part of a carnival game, a mb=0.478 kg ball is thrown at a stack of 17.3 cm tall, mo=0.343 kg objects and hits with a perfectly horizontal velocity of vb, i=10.6 m/s. Suppose that the ball strikes the topmost object. Immediately after the collision, the ball has a horizontal velocity of vb, f=5.10 m/s in the same direction, the topmost object has an angular velocity of wo=3.23 rad/s about its center of mass, and all the remaining objects are undisturbed. Assume that the ball is not rotating and that the effect of the torque due to gravity during the collision is negligible. Required:
If the object's center of mass is located =12.1 cm below the point where the ball hits, what is the moment of inertia o of the object about its center of mass?

air exerts forces on falling objects near earth’s surface.

explanation:

the term 'free falls' refer to object that are falling towards the earth, in a situation in which gravity is the only force acting on the object.

for an object in free fall, the acceleration is constant (g, the gravitational acceleration), and so the velocity of the object constantly increases.

for objects near earth's surface, there is always another force acting on the object: the resistance due to the air. this force is opposed to the direction of fall of the object, and it is proportional to the velocity of the object, so as the object falls down, this force increases up to a point when it balances the force of gravity, and the object continues its motion at constant velocity (called terminal velocity). since in this case gravity is not the only force acting on the object, we are not in a situation of free fall.

conservation of mass

mass before something happens = mass afterwards