Translational-rotational coupling during the scattering of a frictional sphere from a flat surface

YR Wang and P Harrowell, JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 155, 054303 (2021).

DOI: 10.1063/5.0060000

At a macroscopic level, concepts such as "top spin," "back spin," and "rolling" are commonly used to describe the collision of balls and surfaces. Each term refers to an aspect of the coupling of rotational motion during the collision of a spherical particle with a planar surface. In this paper, we explore the mechanisms of energy transfer involving the collision of a rotating sphere and a surface using a model of frictional interactions developed for a granular material. We present explicit analytical treatments for the scattering and derive expressions for two important limiting classes: energy conserving collisions and collisions subject to rapid transverse dissipation. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

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