Re: squash ball question

[Doug Craigen <dcc@ESCAPE.CA>]

Mark Sylvester wrote:
> I have a student doing a project on squash balls: these are rather soft
> rubber balls which don't bounce very well, but get more and more elastic as
> their temperature is raised through being slammed around the court.
>
> He's measuring the coefft of restitution at different temperatures, and
> getting something like a linear graph. The problem is to produce an
> explanation. He needs to be pointed in a fruitful direction, but I find
> myself stuck. It seems clear that it's the air inside the ball that causes
> this behaviour, rather than the rubber, but how to relate this to the
> dissipation that occurs during a bounce...?

Why consider it to be the air rather than the rubber?  Do you observe
this behaviour for other air-filled balls?

I know you can observe near zero restitution for some rubber balls with
no air.  Take the ball out of your mouse and try bouncing it.  I haven't
tried it versus temperature.

> I'd appreciate any ideas.
>
> Mark


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Doug Craigen
          http://www.dctech.com/physics/about_dc.html