Why do golf balls have dimples?

robboy

To make the ball rise, if properly struck. This area of science isn't my forte, and neither is golf if you've ever watched me, but when the club strikes the ball on a downward swing, producing backward spin and acceleration, the dimples, being cavities, produce lift to the ball. Jan 02 04, 11:28 PM

sequoianoir

The simple answer is to change the manner in which air flows around it and how it "sticks" to it. A spinning ball (of any sort including a very smooth one like a table tennis "ping-pong" ball) will change its flight though the air, generating "lift" with "backspin" or causing it to "dip" with "topspin". The dimples specifically enhance and increase this effect. Additionally they lower the effect of drag and allow it to be hit further. http://wings.avkids.com/Book/Sports/instructor/golf-01.html Jan 03 04, 6:43 AM

Hamlet.

The dimples in golf balls, first introduced by the Spalding Company in 1908, can double the distance a golf ball can fly. Jan 03 04, 8:40 AM

sequoianoir

The reason why golf balls have dimples is a story of natural selection. Originally, golf balls were smooth; but golfers noticed that older balls that were beat up with nicks, bumps and slices in the cover seemed to fly farther. Golfers, being golfers, naturally gravitate toward anything that gives them an advantage on the golf course, so old, beat-up balls became standard issue. At some point, an aerodynamicist must have looked at this problem and realized that the nicks and cuts were acting as "turbulators" -- they induce turbulence in the layer of air next to the ball (the "boundary layer"). In some situations, a turbulent boundary layer reduces drag. http://www.howstuffworks.com/question37.htm Jan 03 04, 9:37 AM

Roget

Take a look at http://www.taylor-hobson.com/thethstorygolf.htm Jan 03 04, 11:53 AM

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