Gene would know more about this than I do. But off-the-cuff, the dynamics is going to be determined by the inertia tensor (3 components, modulo isometry) in addition to the mass and centre of gravity (1+1, assuming sphericity). So you do have a few variables to play with. There's also the finite density range, though probably not also the elasticity, of available materials to take into account. Incidentally, can we assume that the (interior) of the ball is entirely rigid? If so, it does seem difficult to imagine how some of the configurations on offer can be justified by dynamical considerations alone! WFL On 3/9/08, Bernie Cosell <bernie@fantasyfarm.com> wrote:
I have no idea what the underlying dynamics are for a spinning bowling ball -- I'd have thought it was relatively simple: that you could model a variable-density sphere as a uniform density sphere with an offset [point] weight. But apparently not. The bowling ball manufacturers have continued to come out with fanciful and interesting "core layouts" for bowling balls. I mentioned this once before [year or two back] but I happened to recently run across a "directory" of recently released balls with core layouts. For your amusement:
<http://www.fantasyfarm.com/bowl>
/Bernie\ -- Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers mailto:bernie@fantasyfarm.com Pearisburg, VA --> Too many people, too few sheep <--
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