Why do dimples on a golf ball allow it to travel farther?
Asked by: Aric Simmons Answer Clearly, dimples on golf balls are going to create additional turbulence. And generally turbulence is a bad thing for a body moving in a resisting medium. A swimmer, for example, wants as little turbulence as possible, to give as little resistance as possible. But never say never. That is, there can be situations in which localized and controlled turbulence can reduce drag. But before we can discuss such a situation, let’s talk about the curving of spinning balls in general. For a hundred years, physics books have explained curve balls in terms of the Bernoulli effect — the spinning ball drags a sheath of air around with it; due to superposition, there is higher gas velocity where the spin adds to the velocity of the streaming air of the translational motion, and hence lower internal pressure at that point; the ball moves in the direction of the leading edge. This is not so much incorrect as incomplete; Bernoulli is a necessary but not sufficient ingredie
