Real quicky - collision reflection
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When you have a collision, the object will bounce away at an angle equal to the reflection of the object''s incoming direction in the plane of the surface hit. Also, the velocity gets reduced by some factor (coefficient of restitution) according to the materials involved in the collision.
But now, doesn''t the angle of the collision also effect how much of the energy is lost? For example, if you have an impact at 45-degrees to the plane, isn''t there less energy lost compared to a 90-degree collision?
How do you work this out using vectors?
Thanks.
Learning to fly is easy, but as a tortoise, the landings are really rough.
For a simple but reasonably accurate model, consider the tangential and normal velocity vectors separately during the collision. The materials of the object and surface involved will affect both velocities but in different ways. The tangential velocity is largely affected by the coefficient of friction, and the normal velocity is largely affected by by the coefficient of restitution. So whether the object will bounce off at a greater or lesser angle and how much energy it loses will depend on the object's incident angle, speed, and the two coefficients.
[edited by - Dobbs on February 21, 2003 10:12:55 AM]
[edited by - Dobbs on February 21, 2003 10:12:55 AM]
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