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Li et al. conducted an experiment on the bounce of a capsule dropped vertically onto a horizontal surface. They found that if the capsule has spin, it can bounce to a slightly greater height than the drop height. This is because rotational kinetic energy is converted to vertical translational kinetic energy during the bounce. The effect is more pronounced when the capsule is incident obliquely with spin. Similar effects have been observed with other elongated objects, such as a spinning plastic egg or two golf balls joined together. This phenomenon can be visually appealing and is often used in lecture demonstrations. [Extracted from the article]

How would a physicist describe the elastic properties of an apple or a banana? Physics students and teachers are familiar with the elastic properties of metal springs, but are likely to be less familiar with the elastic properties of other common materials. The behavior of a metal spring is commonly examined in the laboratory by adding masses to measure the change in the extension or compression. A banana or an apple or any other relatively soft material could just as easily be examined in the same way, as an additional and entertaining exercise. Even if an apparatus is not readily available to undertake such an experiment, it can easily be constructed. In this article I compare the elastic properties of Plasticine (a brand of modeling clay), Silly Putty, and tennis strings. All three materials behave in the same qualitative manner when stretched or compressed slowly, despite the fact that they are quite different when stretched or compressed rapidly and despite the fact that Plasticine and Silly Putty are both much softer than a tennis string. Typical results for a slow deformation are shown in Fig. 1. (Contains 3 figures.)

The trajectory of a projectile through the air is affected both by gravity and by aerodynamic forces. The latter forces can conveniently be ignored in many situations, even when they are comparatively large. For example, if a 145-g, 74-mm diameter baseball is pitched at 40 ms[superscript -1] (89.5 mph), it experiences a drag force of about 1.5 N. The gravitational force on the ball 1.42 N. Nevertheless, the trajectory of a baseball pitched without spin is not strongly affected by the drag force. Because the ball is relatively heavy and the flight distance is relatively small (about 60 ft), the drag force reduces the ball speed by only about 10% by the time it reaches the batter. As a result, the time taken for the ball to reach the batter is only about 5% longer than in a vacuum, and the actual trajectory is also very similar. (Contains 4 figures.)

A ball that is projected forward without spin on a horizontal surface will slide for a short distance before it starts rolling. Sliding friction acts to decrease the translation speed v and it acts to increase the rotation speed [omega]. When v = R[omega], where R is the ball radius, the ball will start rolling and the friction force drops almost to zero since the contact point at the bottom of the ball comes to rest on the surface. The coefficient of rolling friction is much smaller than that for sliding friction. A different situation arises if the ball is projected forward while it is spinning about a vertical or near vertical axis. The latter situation arises in many ball sports. It arises if a player attempts to curve a ball down a bowling alley, or when a billiards player imparts sidespin or "English" to a ball, and it can arise in golf if a player strikes a ball with a putter at a point well away from the middle of the putter head. The situation also arises in the game of curling, although in that case the object that is projected is a cylindrical rock rather than a spherical ball, and it arises in tennis when a ball lands on the court spinning about a near vertical axis, as it does in both a slice serve and a kick serve. In a slice serve, the axis is almost vertical. In a kick serve, the axis is tilted about 30 degrees away from the vertical in order to increase the amount of topspin.

In sports such as baseball, softball, golf, and tennis, a common objective is to hit the ball as fast or as far as possible. Another common objective is to hit the ball so that it spins as fast as possible, since the trajectory of the ball through the air is strongly affected by ball spin. In an attempt to enhance both the coefficient of restitution (COR) and the spin of a golf ball, I conducted several experiments to see what would happen when a 45-g, 42.8-mm diameter golf ball bounced on: (a) a 58-mm diameter, 103-g Super Ball[R]; (b) an 8-mm thick, 56-mm diameter circular disk of Super Ball material cut from a large Super Ball and glued to a 3.4-kg lead brick; and (c) a 3-mm thick sheet of rubber glued to a 3.4-kg lead brick.

A simple model is presented to explain how the spin of a ball can be enhanced when the ball is incident obliquely on a flexible surface. The mechanism involves tangential distortion of the surface and a return of the elastic energy stored in the surface via the action of the static friction force on the ball. As an example, we consider the enhancement of the spin that is possible using an appropriate type of tennis racquet string. [DOI: 10.1119/1.3313455]

It is well-known that a party balloon can be made to fly erratically across a room, but it can also be used for quantitative measurements of other aspects of aerodynamics. Since a balloon is light and has a large surface area, even relatively weak aerodynamic forces can be readily demonstrated or measured in the classroom. Accurate measurements can be made of drag and buoyant forces, and reasonable estimates can also be made of the Magnus force on a spinning balloon.

Measurements on the swing of a baseball bat are analyzed to extract the basic mechanics of the swing. The force acting on the bat is determined from the velocity of the center of mass, and the angular velocity of the bat provides additional information on the couple exerted by the two bands. The motion of the bat was calculated for other force-couple combinations to determine their effects on the swing of the bat. It was found that a couple is needed to start the swing, and a large opposing couple is required near the end of the swing to prevent the bat rotating through an excessive angle before it impacts with the ball. [DOI: 10.1119/1.2983146]