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Bullet-Ping-Pong takes the simple game of ping-pong but substitutes some new elements and features.
A small brightly coloured steel ball-bearing (The Bullet) replaces the light weight ping-pong ball; the paddles are now steel faced, as is the table top, and the players must wear a protective face
mask and googles along with some strategically placed padding.
With the new equipment deployed, the game proceeds as before, except it’s even faster with the bullet ball being loudly whacked at high-speed backwards and forwards across the table from metal bat to metal bat.
The spectators are safe behind reinforced glass barriers, but the full effects of the sound can still be experienced. Bullet-Ping-Pong is not for the faint hearted but to date no injuries have ocurred in the trials to establish the optimum dimensions and weight of the new bullet-ball and specs for the metal faced bats.
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Equations please or it ain't Physics. |
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Pocmloc, I asked Chat GPT to evaluate the idea, and it concurs that the ball would move much faster. |
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"Yes, replacing every part of the game equipment with steel would make the ball fly faster, but likely in a way that makes the game nearly unplayable. Here's why: |
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1. Mass and Momentum – A solid steel ball-bearing would be much heavier than a standard ping pong ball, meaning it carries significantly more momentum at the same velocity. When struck by a steel paddle, it would be harder to decelerate or change direction, leading to faster and more forceful rebounds. |
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2. Elasticity and Energy Transfer – Unlike plastic, which deforms slightly to absorb some energy, steel is much more rigid and transfers energy efficiently upon impact. The collisions between the steel ball and the steel paddle (or steel table) would result in much higher speeds, as less energy is lost to deformation. |
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3. Coefficient of Restitution – The "bounciness" of a material pair affects how much speed a ball retains after bouncing. Steel-on-steel has a relatively high coefficient of restitution, meaning the ball will lose less energy on each bounce compared to a plastic ball on a wooden table. |
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4. Spin and Aerodynamics – A steel ball lacks the internal air cushion of a plastic ping pong ball, which normally affects how spin interacts with air resistance. This means less drag and more direct, high-speed rebounds, reducing the effectiveness of spin-based control. |
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The ball would move at extreme speeds, making reactions nearly impossible. |
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The increased weight of the ball could lead to dangerous impacts despite PPE. |
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Traditional ping pong strategies, like spin control and soft touches, would be ineffective. |
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So yes, the game would be faster—so fast that it would likely cease to be an actual game and instead become a dangerous projectile physics experiment." |
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This echos my suspicion about the game: you'd need Jedi-like reflexes to be able to play it... or robots. In the end I suspect it would end up much like modern fencing: over far too quickly to be entertaining to watch. Still, a bun because what comes to mind is truly awesome. |
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