Time taken for energy to transfer ?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the concept of energy transfer between particles in the context of developing a realtime physics engine. Participants explore the time it takes for energy to transfer, particularly in soft-body materials, and seek resources or literature on this topic.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses the need for information on the time taken for energy transfer between particles, noting that this transfer is not instantaneous and varies by material.
  • Another participant suggests that the concept is material dependent and proposes calculating average energy transfer over time based on contact duration, while acknowledging the complexity of testing with different materials.
  • A third participant mentions the possibility of using intuition and observation to create plausible results rather than strictly realistic ones.
  • One participant connects the discussion to the speed of sound in materials, indicating that this speed relates to how quickly forces and energy propagate through objects.
  • A later reply acknowledges this connection and expresses intent to experiment with the idea, indicating a positive reception to the suggestion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the specifics of energy transfer timing, and multiple perspectives on the topic remain, particularly regarding the reliance on material properties and the approach to modeling.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the lack of available literature specifically addressing time-based energy transfer, and the challenges posed by the variability of material properties in experiments.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in physics engine development, material science, and the dynamics of energy transfer in soft-body physics may find this discussion relevant.

SirSE
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Hello all.

I'm currently looking at developing a realtime physics engine based on energy concepts. It will model all objects as soft-bodies but I need some source material that gives information on the time taken for energy to transfer between particles. I know that the transfer of this energy is not instantaneous, otherwise all bodies would be rigid (which they aren't), but, unfortunately, I cannot find any material that discusses such a concept.

If you look at a golf ball being hit by a driver during a very small time interval, it is clear that the kinetic energy is transferred across the material not instantaenously, but incrementally. Different materials transfer this energy faster, or slower. Are there any books or papers that look at this in more detail? All I can find are extremely abstract analysis. No equations are offered.

I appreciate any help.
 
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what you are talking about is material dependent. you won't find much online with regards to time based energy transfer. You could easily do average energy transfer over time, which would just be total energy divided by time in contact. There are extremely delicate tests that would need to be done. at different speeds, each material has a certain elasticity vs force kind of thing. and because you have two different materials colliding it would make it very very hard.
 
Well in that case I'll have to use fake results based on intuition and observation. Since I'm aiming for plausibility, rather than realism, this should suffice.
 
Aren't you talking, basically, about the speed of sound in the materials? That's how fast the forces / energy are propagated through the objects.
 
That's a very good observation.

I may experiment with that idea and see if the results are anything near realistic.

Edit: You are actually 100% correct with that. Many many thanks to you. Now I can finish the theory and start implementing it in code. If any of you are interested in viewing the model in realtime, I'll probably release a demo over the following months.
 

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