Rubber Ball response to impact?

AI Thread Summary
A rubber ball, when struck by a sprung plate moving at 70 mph, may not exceed that speed due to energy loss during compression and rebound. The method of launching—whether accelerating the ball to 70 mph or allowing the plate to hit a stationary ball—affects the outcome, but both scenarios likely yield similar results. The energy required to compress the ball during impact converts to thermal energy, reducing the kinetic energy transferred to the ball. The mass of the spring/plate assembly plays a crucial role, as a heavier assembly can transfer more kinetic energy to the ball, potentially resulting in a more explosive reaction. Understanding these dynamics is essential for optimizing ball launch mechanisms in pet projects.
marietta_ken
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Please forgive my ignorance on what may be simple topics for most of you. I'm just trying to get my head conceptually around a ball launching pet project I'm fiddling with.

If you take a rubber (tennis) ball, say of 5 oz mass, and blast it with a sprung plate moving at 70 mph, will the ball take off faster than 70 mph? Seems like it would due to the compression and rebound of the ball. How would you quantify that?

Along the same lines, which would yield a faster ball launch -- pushing it rapidly to 70 mph (so that it is somewhat compressed to plate during acceleration, or letting the plate get to 70 mph before it impales the stationary, possibly somewhat restrained, ball?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I believe it won't make much of a difference either way. In the first case however the ball will not travel faster, because the force needed to compress it, comes from the sprung plate. If anything it would receive lower kinetic energy than what comes from the plate because some the energy needed to compress it has turned into thermal energy in the ball.
 
Does the fact that the spring/plate assembly has much greater mass than the ball come into play. In other words, if you take the same amount of KE that exists in a massive spring/plate assy and transfer (a high %) of it to the ball, will the ball not react more "explosively?"
 

Thread 'Average velocity as a weighted mean'

Hello everyone, Consider the problem in which a car is told to travel at 30 km/h for L kilometers and then at 60 km/h for another L kilometers. Next, you are asked to determine the average speed. My question is: although we know that the average speed in this case is the harmonic mean of the two speeds, is it also possible to state that the average speed over this 2L-kilometer stretch can be obtained as a weighted average of the two speeds? Best regards, DaTario
View full post »

Thread '1:1 versus 2:1 Mechanical Advantage debate'

The rope is tied into the person (the load of 200 pounds) and the rope goes up from the person to a fixed pulley and back down to his hands. He hauls the rope to suspend himself in the air. What is the mechanical advantage of the system? The person will indeed only have to lift half of his body weight (roughly 100 pounds) because he now lessened the load by that same amount. This APPEARS to be a 2:1 because he can hold himself with half the force, but my question is: is that mechanical...
View full post »
Thread 'Beam on an inclined plane'

Thread 'Beam on an inclined plane'

Hello! I have a question regarding a beam on an inclined plane. I was considering a beam resting on two supports attached to an inclined plane. I was almost sure that the lower support must be more loaded. My imagination about this problem is shown in the picture below. Here is how I wrote the condition of equilibrium forces: $$ \begin{cases} F_{g\parallel}=F_{t1}+F_{t2}, \\ F_{g\perp}=F_{r1}+F_{r2} \end{cases}. $$ On the other hand...
View full post »

Similar threads

Spring constant to launch ball 70 mph?
Replies
19
Views
11K
What is the Velocity of the Ball Leaving a Racket Moving at 60 mph?
Replies
7
Views
2K
I How weather conditions affect a golf shot
Replies
6
Views
3K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top