Billiards rotational friction (side spin)

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around modeling the effects of rotational friction on billiard balls, specifically focusing on the side spin and its interaction with the felt surface of a billiards table. Participants explore theoretical and experimental approaches to understand how friction affects the rotational velocity of the ball and the necessary coefficients for simulation purposes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the challenge of modeling friction for a ball's rotational velocity around the Y axis and seeks guidance on coefficients.
  • Another participant suggests that friction produces a torque about the Y direction, which will slow down the spinning ball, and proposes conducting an experiment to determine the deceleration rate.
  • A later reply expresses uncertainty about the availability of equipment to measure deceleration rates and requests known values for the frictional coefficient or deceleration rate for side spin.
  • One participant proposes that a constant torque independent of angular velocity will cause the ball to stop and provides a formula for calculating the time required for the ball to cease spinning.
  • Another participant introduces a scenario involving the acceleration of a pool ball to a certain angular velocity before contact with the cloth, questioning how fast it will accelerate in the -x direction due to friction, providing specific parameters for the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of certainty regarding the modeling of friction and the parameters involved. There is no consensus on the exact coefficients or methods to use, and multiple competing views on the nature of the frictional effects remain present.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention specific values for the ball's diameter, mass, and coefficients, but there is uncertainty about the applicability of these values to side spin scenarios. The discussion also highlights the dependence on experimental data that some participants lack access to.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those involved in physics simulations, sports physics, or anyone looking to understand the dynamics of rotational motion in billiards and similar contexts.

REEPER
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Hey all, not sure if this is the right place to post this, I apologise if it is not.

I've created a basic Billiards simulation but there's a type of friction I lack with regards to ball rotation.
Using an orthonormal basis to give an orientation: the surface of the Billiards table is aligned with the X-Z plane and the Y axis is perpendicular to the table's surface. My problem is that I don't know how to modelise friction for a ball's rotational velocity component around the Y axis.
I understand the ball will be sitting in a sort of cup in the felt and its friction in this cup will slow it down, but I'm not sure how best to represent this friction and what sort of coefficients I'm dealing with.
Any help with shedding some light on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
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Well, the friction produces a torque about the Y direction which will cause a spinning ball to stop rotating.

You may have to do an experiment: how long does it take a spinning ball to come to a stop, and then what coefficient will give the same spin-down time in the simulation?

The tricky part will be estimating the initial rotation rate of the ball.
 
Redbelly98 said:
Well, the friction produces a torque about the Y direction which will cause a spinning ball to stop rotating.

You may have to do an experiment: how long does it take a spinning ball to come to a stop, and then what coefficient will give the same spin-down time in the simulation?

The tricky part will be estimating the initial rotation rate of the ball.

I unfortunately don't have the equipment or the time to determine the deceleration rate along the Y axis in practice. I was hoping someone might know where I could find a frictional coefficient or deceleration rate for side spin between a billiards ball and the table felt, as I haven't had any luck thus far finding them myself.

edit:

I've found a link with a deceleration rate for ball-cloth spin, but I'm not certain if its for side spin

http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/physics.html
 
Last edited:
I don't know if this is exactly right, but I think a constant torque independent of the angular velocity of the ball will cause it to stop. From the link you've found, the angular deceleration is given to be 11rads/s.

We know,

[tex]\tao =I\alpha[/tex]
[tex]w=w_0 -\alpha t[/tex]

For a solid sphere, [tex]I=\frac{2}{5}mr^2[/tex], using the second equation, equating [tex]\omega[/tex] to 0 (as the ball stops spinning) gives you the time required. The rest of the parameters are dependent on your simulation.
 
hi there..

i hope someone is still reading this. i have got a tricky question and i am really not getting anywhere with my thoughts..

let's imagine someone is accelerating a pool ball up to certain angular velocity (picture --> ω) while the ball has no contact to the cloth.
then the ball is lowered onto the cloth.. due to the fricition it will move to the -x - direction. but how fast will it accelerate?
ball diameter: 2.25 in
ball mass: 6 oz
ball-cloth coefficient of sliding friction (m): 0.2
ball-cloth spin deceleration rate: 11 rad/sec2
ω: f.e. 50 rad/s
[URL]http://img691.imageshack.us/i/billardkugelneu.jpg/[/URL]
http://img691.imageshack.us/i/billardkugelneu.jpg/"

can someone help me out?
thanks
felix

p.s.: sorry for possible spelling errors!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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