🔬 Connection to your lab
In the lab you dropped a ping pong ball, recorded the audio, and analyzed the bounces — plotting peak height, ln(Δt), impact velocity, and energy retained to determine the Coefficient of Restitution (COR). Each graph revealed a different facet of the same inelastic collision physics.
This simulator runs the same physics, but lets you explore dozens of ball–surface combinations and conditions that would be impossible to test in a single lab session.
🎛️ How the controls work
- Ball & Surface — choose a preset ball (each has a realistic COR and air drag value), or go Custom to set your own.
- COR slider — drag to change the bounciness (0 = dead, 1 = perfect). Changes the preset to Custom.
- Drop Height — how high the ball is released from.
- Gravity — switch between Earth, Moon, Mars, and Jupiter to see how gravity changes the bounce pattern.
- Air Drag — toggle quadratic air resistance on or off. When on, the ball loses extra energy to the air on every flight.
- Show no-drag comparison — overlay the same simulation without air drag so you can see drag's effect directly on the graphs.
- ▶ Start — runs the simulation. Nothing moves until you press this.
- Graph tabs — four graphs, all from your lab: Peak Height, ln(Δt), Impact Velocity, and % Energy Lost.
🚀 Things to try
1
Select Ping Pong Ball (your lab ball), press Start, then open the ln(Δt) vs. Bounce # tab. Does the slope match the COR you measured?
2
Switch to the Sad Ball (COR ≈ 0.07). How many bounces does it take before the ball barely moves? Compare to Ping Pong on the Peak Height graph.
3
With Ping Pong selected, toggle Air Drag on and tick Show no-drag comparison. On the Peak Height graph — which bounces are most affected by drag?