In this paper, the dynamics of a bouncing ball is described for several common ball types having different bounce characteristics. Results are presented for a tennis ball, a baseball, a golf ball, a superball, a steel ball bearing, a plasticene ball, and a silly putty ball. The plasticene ball was studied as an extreme case of a ball with a low coefficient of restitution (in fact zero, since the collision is totally inelastic) and the silly putty ball was studied because it has unusual elastic properties. The first three balls were studied because of their significance in the physics of sports. For each ball, a dynamic hysteresis curve is presented to show how energy is lost during and after the collision. The measurement technique is quite simple, it is suited for undergraduate laboratory experiments, and it may provide a useful method to test and approve balls for major sporting events.

Topics
Rigid body dynamics, Elasticity, Magnetic hysteresis, Educational assessment, News and events, Laboratories
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© 1999 American Association of Physics Teachers.
1999
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