VIII. CONCLUSIONS
Measurements of the friction force on a bouncing ball demonstrate that balls can slide on a surface or they can grip the surface but they do not roll. As a result, balls can spin faster than allowed by the rolling condition v25vx2 /R and they can bounce with a horizontal coefficient of restitution greater than zero. Even greater spin is imparted to the ball if the normal reaction force acts through a line passing a distance D behind the center of mass. Values of D around 2 or 3 mm were observed for a tennis ball and a baseball incident at low speeds. When a ball grips the surface, the friction force reverses direction during the bounce and it may reverse direction several times. As a result, the average friction force during the bounce is not dramatically different from the value that would be obtained by assuming that the ball will roll. Simplified bounce models that allow the ball to roll rather than grip can therefore be used to make approximate predictions of the bounce parameters, but the predictions may differ from observations by a factor of 2 or more, especially for a superball. The behavior of any particular type of ball is best determined experimentally, in which case one can characterize the bounce properties in terms of the vertical and horizontal coefficients of restitution and a typical value of D. However, at small angles of incidence where the ball slides throughout the bounce, the horizontal coefficient of restitution is a function of the angle of incidence. If the ball slides, then the percentage reduction in horizontal speed depends on the coefficient of sliding friction, the vertical coefficient of restitution, and the angle of incidence. For a sliding ball the spin depends on all three of these parameters, and it also depends on D. The qualitative behavior of a ball when it grips is consistent with the MBF model, but the MBF model was developed to a study a perfectly elastic, solid ball impacting on an elastic surface. Further refinements of the MBF model will be required to obtain quantitative results relevant to inelastic or hollow balls impacting on a rigid surface.