Golf Ball Physics Challenge

[ryankelley]

In the intersted of fun (and sciene) I wanted to put out a challenge to all our PTC Mathcad regulars and physics masterminds everywhere. I'll start the discussion and you handle the analysis. So, without further ado...

SOMEONE, PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS:

.GIF of a golf ball hitting a steel plate at 150mph, recorded at 70,000 frames per second.

It's mind blowing, I'm stunned, and I can't wait to see what you guys come up with.

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

Okay, you've got a closed elastic membrane surrounding a viscous fluid; but the math is going to be horrendous.

[ryankelley]

Is it a fluid? I had always thought that a golf ball core was solid.

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

Many (many, many, many. . .) years ago I peeled a golf ball. Under the cover were a lot of "rubber bands" surrounding another ball with a fluid inside (which I did not open.)

A google search for polybutadiene reveals a highly elastic synthetic rubber which I suspect would characterise as mathematically similar to a fluid at high speeds.

[ryankelley]

That makes sense. I'm also unsure of the date of this video capture, so I'm unclear on the actual contents of the golf ball core. I included the above photo to provide some context, but with the recent developments in golf ball components can't say with any clarity what's inside.

[ValeryOchkov]