Does it have anything to do with spinning?
2007-04-19 04:08:37 · 18 answers · asked by AaronX 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Air exerts a force on any object moving through it. Holding your arm out of the window of a moving car easily illustrates this phenomenon. Aerodynamicists break down the force into two components: lift and drag. Drag acts to directly oppose motion, whereas lift acts in a direction perpendicular to motion (it is usually directed upward in the case of a golf ball). As you rotate your hand in the air stream, you vary the amount and direction of the lift and drag forces acting on your hand.
A moving object has a high-pressure area on its front side. Air flows smoothly over the contours of the front side and eventually separates from the object toward the back side. A moving object also leaves behind a turbulent wake region where the air flow is fluctuating or agitated, resulting in lower pressure behind it. The size of the wake affects the amount of drag on the object.
Dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball's surface. This allows the smoothly flowing air to follow the ball's surface a little farther around the back side of the ball, thereby decreasing the size of the wake. A dimpled ball thus has about half the drag of a smooth ball.
Dimples also affect lift. A smooth ball with backspin creates lift by warping the airflow such that the ball acts like an airplane's wing. The spinning action makes the air pressure on the bottom of the ball higher than the air pressure on the top; this imbalance creates an upward force on the ball. Ball spin contributes about one half of a golf ball's lift. The other half is provided by the dimples, which allow for optimization of the lift force.
Perhaps in the future someone will incorporate dimples into the front body design of an automobile...
Dr. H
2007-04-19 04:34:20 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The dimples in a golf ball has to do with spinning, of course, but basically to cause transitions in drag on different sides of the ball. A ball with the side spinning into the direction of flight will have less drag on that side and will curve toward the high drag side (like throwing a curve ball). This would work on any surface, but the effectiveness in highly dependant on the speed of the surface. A golf ball leaves the club at over 100 mph and spins at several thousand rpm so the relative speed of the spinning surface it a lot higher than most cars run.
A golf ball properly hit will essentially soar, or fly, and also go farther.
2007-04-26 08:51:01 · answer #2 · answered by Tom G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The dimples make the golf ball fly further by giving it more lift. Vehicles (at least land transportation) don't fly and putting dimples on vehicle will only result to greater drag coefficient which will actually make the vehicle travel less because of wind resistance.
2007-04-19 04:15:24 · answer #3 · answered by bored_dude 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The idea behind a golf ball is that you want it to go as far as possible with just one exertion of energy. You hit it once and watch it go. A car an accelerate at any time so the effect of adding dimples to it wouldn't be worth it. (plus people are materialistic and aren't concerned with the most efficient car possible)
2007-04-20 12:28:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may seem paradoxical, but roughening up a surface reduces drag by preventing laminar flow close to the surface. A lot of drag is created in the transition region betwen laminar and turbulent flow.
I don't know about dimpling cars, but you can do something similar to boats (racing shells) to speed them up. You use a rough tape to break up the laminar flow, which causes a lot of drag in the transition layer.
Quote from wiki:
Firstly, the dimples delay separation of the boundary layer from the ball. Early separation, as seen on a smooth sphere, causes significant wake turbulence, the principal cause of drag. The separation delay caused by the dimples therefore reduces this wake turbulence, and hence the drag.
2007-04-19 04:15:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
in basic terms relies upon. extreme high quality balls, like the pro V1, many times have around 4 hundred dimples. Distance balls could have as much as a hundred and fifty fewer dimples. it is via the fact the extra dimples, the extra a ball will spin through fact of wind (air) resistance.
2016-10-03 06:06:42 · answer #6 · answered by truesdale 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A dimpled golfball that has a good backspin actually creates lift. More or less, it's flying. This keeps it off the ground longer which translates to a longer hit.
2007-04-19 04:13:44 · answer #7 · answered by Mark B 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I am not a physics major, but I believe you have the right concept about the spinning & dimples...go to Spalding's web site & e-mail them with this question...they're the experts, right?
As far as our cars having the same...the more intricate you make damageable parts of your vehicle, i.e. the doors, panels, hood...the more it costs to fix or replace. Since most autobody folks are well trained in "smooth"...not only would they have to jack the price up for their extra schooling, you would also pay them as "specialists" afterwards...it's expensive enough already, don't ya think? I think that 0 to150 mph in 10 secs. is fast enough with smooth, too. LOL
2007-04-19 04:22:53 · answer #8 · answered by MsET 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I believe the dimples are added to balance the ball in some way
2007-04-19 04:11:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Becuase if they put dimples on vehicles, then they would look like dents and you would be able to claim insurance for them.
2007-04-19 04:16:05 · answer #10 · answered by - Tudor Gothic Serpent - 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋