Simulation modeling of a thrown ball bouncing nonlinearly across a grid of cups

J. Andrew Howe

Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2015, vol. 253, issue C, 61-71

Abstract: This work is motivated by a staple carnival game. A player throws a ping-pong ball onto a grid of cups with the goal of having the ball land in a cup. Though there are many variations to this game, there is a common underlying characteristic. As the ball bounces on the cup grid, its sequence of bouncing trajectories becomes nonlinear. It is this nonlinearity which makes it impossible for an observer to predict the outcome, and makes the game difficult.

Keywords: Nonlinear dynamics; Partially elastic collisions; Ping-pong balls; Monte Carlo simulation; Game analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:apmaco:v:253:y:2015:i:c:p:61-71

DOI: 10.1016/j.amc.2014.12.061

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