Ok. . .a lot of people think I’m sorta smart. . .so they ask mea lot of things. . .but I’m really just a simple minded person, who’s read the straight dope books. That being said. . .I have been asked a question that I just can’t answer. . .
**Why are tennis balls fuzzy?
**I figure it’s because they’re made of nylon or something, but I can’t quite figure out why they might be made of nylon. Or if it’s even nylon. Well, any answer would be greatly apreciated. ( =
Presumably tennis balls have fuzzy covers because that makes them bouncy, but not too bouncy. Throughout time, manufacturers have had different materials covering tennis balls. The present cover is made out of a Dacron, nylon, and wool, according to the World Book.
Thanks a lot, you’re a life saver.
Another reason they are fuzzy is that you can put a lot more English on a fuzzy ball than a non-fuzzy ball. There is more friction when the ball hits the ground with a fuzzy ball.
You really want me to answer that one??? lol
“Do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda
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I don’t think fuzz makes the ball bounce…(Newton’s Laws of Motion seem to take care of that one) It may, however, have an effect on its bounces though, was was mentioned by the friction it causes between the court and the ball.
I think a great question would be to ask who was the first to put fuzz on a tennis ball.
“If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious or supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous.” Blaise Pascal
Oh brother. ANyway,
so why are tennis balls fuzzy then?
Tennis is usually played on a hard relatively smooth surface. Tennis balls have fuzz on them to help the ball grip better to the surface. This gripping is called friction. The more friction causes drag which slows the ball down. The ball is also hit by the surface of the tennis racquet. Again the surface of the racquet is fairly smooth therefore you need friction between the ball and the racquet. If a tennis ball were smooth, like a baseball it would travail much faster and be much more difficult to hit. This friction from the ball also increases the ability of a tennis player to direct the ball where he or she wants to hit it.
As for golf balls & dimples:
"A ball is not the most aerodynamic shape. Air flowing around it tends to flow smoothly around the first half of the ball, but it peels away from the back half and forms turbulent ‘eddies’. This causes drag which slows the ball down and shortens its flight. However, if the surface of the ball is roughened, air flowing around it ‘sticks’ to the ball longer and produces a smaller region of turbulence behind it. There is less drag and the ball flies farther
Ah, the internet to the rescue.
http://wings.ucdavis.edu/Tennis/Project/index.html
Some selected quotes,
The first letter that looks like a script letter “p” is the Greek letter “rho” and is the symbol for density. The Greek letter “mu” in the denominator is the symbol for dynamic viscosity ( there is another type of viscosity called kinematic viscosity that uses a different symbol) The letter “U” is the symbol for freestream velocity. We’re going to use the velocity of a Pete Sampras serve for this. “L” is the characteristic length of the object. For a tennis ball L would be equal to the diameter of the ball; on a wing L would be a “chord” length (the length of a line drawn from the leading to trailing edge of the wing).
“In the case of the tennis ball - the fuzz tends to create turbulence. And in our videos we demonstrate how a smooth and rough surface ball change the aerodynamics of the flow,”
Stick with us RomeDogg, people will stop thinking of you as “sorta smart” and start thinking of you as “some kinda genius”. Or a “damn opinionated asshole” as in my case.