Question by radkappe · Dec 14, 2016 at 01:16 AM · physics rigidbody force sphere spin

Backspin of Sphere with Rigidbody

Hey there! I am by any means not a physics expert, hence I can't really tell how the effect I am looking for is called. I'll just call it "Backspin" for now :)

Picture this scenario:

There is a ping pong ball in front of you on a ping pong table. You put pressure with your finger on it (going from the top of the ball to the bottom with a lot of force). The ping pong ball will slip off your finger moving forward but with a backwards spin. So, eventhough it moves forward it will eventually roll back to you due to its backwards spin :D

I hope that makes sense. I don't really know how this effect is called so I can't really look up solutions.

I do have a simple plane with a sphere (rigidbody attached) on it. I want to simulate this exact effect by swiping over the screen. But most importantly, how can that effect be achieved? The effect should also be effected by exactly where pressure is put on the ball (left or right). I just want it to move forwards while spinning backwards and eventually rolling back due to its backforce (not to exactly the same spot but more realistic).

I've experimented with Addforce and Addtorque but no success.

Any help is highly appreciated.

Have a nice day!

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$$anonymous$$ · Dec 14, 2016 at 08:14 AM 0

You would add force in the direction of travel and use add torque to spin in the direction opposite to the direction of travel. To see the effect of this, you would need to balance friction and mass so that the ball has constant contact with a surface so that it eventually overrides the initial linear velocity and reverses the direction. Angular velocity would need to be high enough to overcome the linear velocity. It's a tough one to simulate.