- #1
daniel_i_l
Gold Member
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When a ball bounces into something like the floor the component of the speed normal to the plane (for example the floor) gets reversed.
I'm trying to program a physics simulation were there are, among other things, balls bouncing off walls and stuff. Now I know that I could simply reverse the speed component as I explained above to make the ball bounce but this is somewhat af a "hack", what I want to know is how it "really" happens - in terms of forces and stuff. The ball changes it's momentum which means that there is some force that pushes the ball from the wall over a certain time - impulse. How do I calculate this force (by perimiters such as the rigedness of the wall, speed of the ball...) and how do you know when to apply it and when to stop?
Thanks.
I'm trying to program a physics simulation were there are, among other things, balls bouncing off walls and stuff. Now I know that I could simply reverse the speed component as I explained above to make the ball bounce but this is somewhat af a "hack", what I want to know is how it "really" happens - in terms of forces and stuff. The ball changes it's momentum which means that there is some force that pushes the ball from the wall over a certain time - impulse. How do I calculate this force (by perimiters such as the rigedness of the wall, speed of the ball...) and how do you know when to apply it and when to stop?
Thanks.