Ping Pong

When I was playing Table Tennis at the Rochester Sports Garden, I realized that there is a lot of physics working on the ball. First, the ball hits my paddle, specifically the rubber. Because my rubber is tacky, the ball sticks to it a lot. The friction of the ball on the rubber creates a lot of spin on the ball. The ball usually gets topspin, which also has huge ties to physics, The topspin creates a down force that drives the ball downward into the table. Lastly, the top spin on the ball makes the ball go a lot faster after it hits the table. The friction on the table and the ball allows the ball to grab on and use its spin to produce more speed after the ball hits the table.