Bouncing a rubber ball with a hole in it

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the mechanics of bouncing rubber balls, specifically those with holes. Two primary theories are proposed: first, that holes prevent proper compression of the rubber, diminishing its ability to store elastic energy; second, that air inside the ball contributes to bounce through constructive interference, which is disrupted by holes. A participant notes that golf balls with cuts still bounce effectively, suggesting that the behavior of air flow through the holes may lead to energy loss during compression and decompression, resulting in reduced bounce efficiency.

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ShawnD
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As you all know, rubber balls (tennis balls) do not bounce good if there are holes in them. Why is that? I have 2 ideas as to what it is but I'm not sure which one.

1. The rubber cannot compress properly so the ability for the rubber to store elastic energy is gone.
2. The air inside of the ball usually provides constructive interference when the ball bounces back up. If the air can't compress, it can't provide that constructive interference.

1 makes a lot of sense but I've been golf balls with huge cuts in them work perfectly fine.

Thoughts?
 
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What kinds of rubber balls? You mean a ball that is originally hollow?

If so, I think it's because of the air flow through the holes: when the ball is compressed, the air streams out very quickly (it's rather a pressure wave than a real "flow"), and vice versa. But this in-and-out flow comes together with an energy loss due to the streaming resistance of the holes. The crash has now strong "hysteresis" characteristics, meaning that the average force between ball and ground during compression is considerably larger than during decompression.

Without the holes, the air can act as a very well "spring". (Interference??)
 

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