Superball

 

Code Number: 1N40.60

Demo Title: Superball

Condition: Good

Principle: Conservation of Linear Momentum, Two-Dimensional Collisions

Area of Study: Mechanics

Equipment: 

Superball, table.

Procedure:

Superballs, and the bouncing of Superballs with and without spin.  Also, the curious behavior of a Superball returning to the starting point when bounced under a table.

References:

  • Kelley D. Sullivan, "What’s in a Name: Why Do We Call a Bouncy Ball Bouncy?", TPT, Vol. 57, #4, Apr. 2019, p. 229.
  • Peter Knipp, "Bouncing Balls that Spin", TPT, Vol. 46, #2, Feb. 2008, p. 95.
  • Gerhard Stroink, "Worth Reading", TPT, Vol. 45, #7, Oct. 2007, p. 406.
  • Iain MacInnes, "Debouncing a Superball", TPT, Vol. 45, #5, May 2007, p. 304.
  • Robert Beck Clark, "Authors Response", TPT, Vol. 45, #5, May 2007, p. 262.
  • Greg Sherman, "Friction and Bouncing Balls", TPT, Vol. 45, #5, May 2007, p. 261.
  • Robert Beck Clark, "That's the Way the Bouncing Ball Spins", TPT, Vol. 42, #8, Nov. 2006, p. 550.
  • Martin Gardner, "Crazy Bounce", TPT, Vol. 35, #3, Mar. 1997, p. 159.
  • G. Stroink, "Superball Problem", TPT, Vol. 21, #7, Oct. 1983, p. 466.
  • Xinrui Li, Guangyuan Chen, Ren Jie Tee, Jie Xu Liu, Christopher Ong, "Dynamics of a Bouncing Capsule: An Impulse Model vs a Hertzian Model", AJP, Vol. 92, #6, June 2024, p. 424.
  • Rod Cross, "Oblique Collision of a Soft Rubber Disk With a Rigid Surface", AJP, Vol. 91, #7, July 2023, p. 532.
  • Rod Cross, "Impact of a Ball on a Surface with Tangential Compliance", AJP, Vol. 78, # 7, p. 716, July 2010.
  • Antonio Domenech, "A Classical Experiment Revisited: The Bounce of Balls and Superballs in Three Dimensions", AJP, Vol. 73, #1, Jan. 2005, p. 28.
  • Brian T. Hefner, "The Kinematics of a Superball Bouncing Between Two Vertical Surfaces", AJP, Vol. 72, #7, July 2004, p. 875.
  • Rod Cross, "Grip-Slip Behavior of a Bouncing Ball", AJP, Vol. 70, #11, Nov. 2002, p. 1093.
  • Rod Cross, "Measurements of the Horizontal Coefficient of Restitution for a Superball and a Tennis Ball", AJP, Vol. 70, #5, May 2002, p. 482.
  • Frank S. Crawford, "Superball and Time-Reversal Invariance", AJP, Vol. 50, #9, Sept. 1982, p. 856.
  • William G. Harter, "Velocity Amplification in Collision Experiments Involving Superballs", AJP, Vol. 39, #6, June 1971, p. 656.
  • Walter Roy Mellen, "Superball Rebound Projectiles", AJP, Vol. 36, #9 Sept. 1968, p. 845.
  • George L. Strobel, "Matrices and Superballs", AJP, Vol. 36, #9, Sept. 1968, p. 834.
  • Richard L. Garwin, "Kinematics of an Ultraelastic Rough Ball", AJP, Vol. 37, #1, Jan. 1968, p. 88.
  • Pat Murphy, Ellen Macaulay, and the staff of the Exploratorium, "Putting a Spin on It", Exploratopia, p. 141.
  • Martin Gardner, "21, Crazy Bounce", Smart Science Tricks, p. 37.
  • Jearl Walker, "1.76, Super Ball Tricks", The Flying Circus of Physics Ed. 2, p. 38.
  • Jearl Walker, "Superball Tricks", The Flying Circus of Physics, p. 30, 234.
  • Margaret D. Campbell, "Superball Collisions", Website Paper.