WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Chaotic Dynamics of a Bouncing Ball in a Sinusoidal Channel

​
x
0
0.5
y
0
1.042
h
0.589
x
f
227.
A ball falls from the position at
(
x
0
,
y
0
)
(green point) onto a sinusoidal channel of height
h
and bounces in the channel (seen in cross section). The ball's trajectory is traced in red and ends at a blue point at time
t
f
, with a maximum of 200 bounces; the number of bounces is shown at the top of the graphic. In general, chaotic behavior is observed, as can be seen in the Poincaré map, the top part of the graphic.