Angular Impulse and Spinning Bouncing Ball
Abstract
A solid ball of mass m, size r and spin ω about an axis through its center is
dropped freely from a height h on a rough horizontal plane. Assuming its angular
momentum is parallel to the horizontal plane upon impact it bounces
repeatedly drifting on a vertical plane. We analyze the kinematics of the
bouncing ball assuming the impacts are semi-elastic without slipping. By varying
the spin and relevant parameters, a robust Mathematica [1] program
enables simulating the trajectories