John D. Barrow: The Bounce of the Superball

Synopsis

Video recording of a lecture given by Professor John D. Barrow of Cambridge University at the Museum of London on 7 December 2010. The commercially available ‘Superball’ of hard rough rubber displays many counterintuitive properties which seem to violate Newton’s laws of motion. He shows that the Superball can be understood but its behaviour is completely different from that of a billiard ball when it undergoes collisions with a wall. He also looks at some other unusual motions of swerving and spinning balls in sports. (61 minutes)

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2010

Year of production

2010

Notes

Powerpoint slides that accompanied the lecture, and a complete transcript, are also available on the website.

Subjects

Mathematics; Physics; Sports science

Keywords

motion (physics); balls

Credits

Contributor

John D Barrow

Distributor

Name

Gresham College

Email

enquiries@gresham.ac.uk

Web

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7831 0575

Fax

020 7831 5208

Address

Barnard’s Inn Hall
Holborn
London EC1N 2HH