I understand that a solid ball has more of its mass closer to the axis of rotation. If the mass distribution is close to

[answerhappygod]

I understand that a solid ball has more of its mass closer tothe axis of rotation. If the mass distribution is close to the axisof the rotation, the moment of inertia will decrease because theradius is less. The moment of inertia (I) of an object is a valuethat represents the object’s resistance to rotating. So if themoment of inertia is smaller, it is easier for rotationalacceleration to occur.
But then I am confused because a ring can lose a race with asolid because much of its potential energy is converted torotational kinetic energy rather than translational kinetic energy.So does the distribution of mass even affect the translationalkinetic energy? And also how does the distribution of massaffect the speed of a rolling object??