How do dimples make golf balls travel farther?
A golfer’s worst enemy may be divots, but his or her best friend may be dimples—the dimples on a golf ball that send it sailing farther down the fairway. “In the early days of golf in Scotland, golfers discovered that their old golf balls went farther than the new, smooth ones,” says Mark Maughmer, professor of aerospace engineering at Penn State. The beat-up balls reacted differently to the forces they encountered while flying through the air, Maughmer explains. It wasn’t long before golfers were intentionally pitting their brand-new balls to improve their games. By 1905, golf balls were being manufactured with dimples, as they have been ever since. What’s the magic in those dimples? All flying objects are subject to the forces of lift and drag, Maughmer explains. An airplane produces lift when the air flowing over its wings is forced downward, causing the plane to rise. At the same time, the plane’s forward motion creates drag, or resistance. A golf ball can produce lift in a similar
