Damped Zigzag Upward Motion of a Ball in Fluid: a Numerical Model

Muhammad Nur Tajuddin (1) SMA Negeri 2 Palu, Palu, Sulawesi Tengah. 2) Master Program in Physics Teaching, FMIPA, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung)
Novitrianc Novitrianc (Master Program in Physics Teaching, FMIPA, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung)
Sparisoma Viridi (Master Program in Physics Teaching, FMIPA, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung)
Euis Sustini (Physics of Electronic Materials Research Division, FMIPA, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia)
Veinardi Suendo (Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Research Division, FMIPA, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia)

Indonesian Journal of Physics (IJP)
Vol 20 No 1 (2009): Vol. 20 No. 1, January 2009

Several types of upward motion of a ball in a cylinder filled with water are observed in experiment such as straight, damped zigzag, and zigzag upward motion. Center of mass of the balls and the way the balls are released play important role to determine the type of occuring upward motion. A simple theoretical model regarding only gravitational force, Stokes drag force, and Archimedes bouyancy force, where the work points of these forces are not coincident, are developed and used to explain the damped zigzag motion.