EXPERIMENT NO.

5
Statement:
To measure internal taper angle with the help of solid sphere method.

Apparatus:
1. Solid spheres, Vernier caliper, Flat surface, depth gauge

Theory:
This method is used to measure the taper angle of a hole. In this method, we
require two balls of different sizes, depth gauge, height gauge etc. This method is
particularly suitable for checking the angle of a tapered ring gauge.
First a small ball of radius R2 is inserted in the hole in lower position to touch the
bottom and Height H2 is measured. Small ball must be of such size as to be seated
somewhere in between hole. Then bigger ball of radius R1 is placed in the hole and
distance H1 between the top of ball and tapered hole upper surface is measured

Figure 1 measuring internal taper with

solid spheres
with depth gauge. As shown in figure 1.
Then, from LMN

sin ( B2 )= LMln = H RR2R

1R 2
1
where H=H 1+ H 2

R 1R 2
B=2 sin1 ( HR 2R 1 )

Thus, the angle of taper B can be found out. This method is also very suitable for
measuring the relief clearance of dies, etc.
Procedure:
1. First place the small ball in the hole such that it settles at the bottom.
2. Now place the second ball such that it is 1/3 of diameter out of hole.
3. Now measure H1, H2 and diameters of balls.
4. Use the formula to find the taper angle.

Observations:
For given taper,

7
R 1=
16
5
R 2=
32
8 49
H=1+ + 4 128=
16 32
9
LM =R 1R 2=
32
49 7 5 30
ln = =
32 16 32 32

Taper angle=B=2 sin1 ( 309 )

Taper angle=B=34.91 degrees

Comments:
1. This method is also very suitable for measuring the relief clearance of dies,
etc.
2. This method is often used for measuring the size of a deep bore, determining
the angle of an internal taper, and assessing the parallelism of the measuring
faces of a micrometer. They also form essential components of critical
engineering parts, such as ball bearings.
3. The formula is somewhat difficult to use because the small ball should touch
the bottom, but the problem can be removed by using depth gauge to
measure the distance from top surface to top of small ball and then adding
diameter of small ball to find H2.