Tag Archive | "table tennis ball"

Why and HOW does spin affect the normal and tangential velocities of a ping pong ball after bounce?


I was looking at the following webpage:

http://www.gregsttpages.com/articles/tt_physics_maths.html

About a third of the way down there are two images that show how the bounce of a ping pong ball is affected based on spin. To find them, you can Ctrl+F the phrase ‘heavily stylised’. Unfortunately, on this webpage it doesn’t mention any formulas for the ball’s velocity change. I’d like to know the physics behind this bounce because I’m currently developing a 2D bat-and-ball game in which spin is a critical component of gameplay. Here is my exact question:

Assuming 2 dimensions only: If a table tennis ball has an angular velocity A, tangential velocity T, and normal velocity N at the instant of impact with the table, what will be the values of each after bounce?

A = ?; T = ?; N = ?;

My guess was that only the tangential velocity would be affected by angular velocity, but according to the website I linked to, the normal velocity is affected as well! HOW?

Thanks,
Ra
And when trying to explain the concepts to me, would it be possible for you to explain the terminology and symbols used? Only because I just rock at physics.

Thanks a lot people!! Appreciate it!
I can guess a lot of what is going on, but can anyone give me the simplest formula I can use to calculate the values of each variable after bounce. By simple I mean, leave out any variables that would cause negligible change.

A = Angular Velocity
T = Tangential Velocity
N = Normal Velocity
C1 = Constant 1
C2 = Constant 2
CX = Constant X

Where the constants are anything from coefficient of restitutions to whatever… thanks!

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