As part of my project, I am trying to figure out the forces acting while squeezing a ball. The ball in question is a foam rubber ball (stress ball). The ball deforms when we squeeze & the mode of squeeze is by keeping the ball between the fingers & the palm of the hand. Also what are the forces that needs to be considered to draw a free body diagram out of it?
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3 Answers
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Your hands applies force radially to the center of the ball, compressing it. At the same time there is the force of the elastic ball expanding back into its original shape.
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Your fingers and palm are pushing the ball in from opposite sides. So there are your forces.
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$\begingroup$ Thanks for the reply. So only two forces are acting on the ball? If I keep a sensor at the center of the ball, the force acting on it would be the resultant of these two forces. Am I wrong? Do I need to consider any other factors? $\endgroup$ Commented Mar 3, 2015 at 2:45
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There are three idealized forces acting on the ball. One from the base of the palm, one from the fingers and one from the base of the fingers. See below for my crude example.
answered Jul 13, 2015 at 0:29