Ask A Scientist© Engineering Archive

Index Key:   ENG014
Author:      chris king a king
Subject:     Hardness of a golf ball versus flight.
Would a golf ball fly better if it was soft rather than hard?

Response #:  1 of 1
Author:      david r munoz
Good Question:
Although I do not really know the answer, I can tell you that there was a
researcher around the mid 60's who was doing work on drag force reduction of
compliant surfaces (use these words as key words to locate the articles in
your library).  Unfortunately, I do not remember the researcher's name. 
However, I recall that his hypothesis was that dolphins swim with reduced
drag because their bodies are compliant, so he did some drag force studies
with dolphins.  Perhaps this will help.  I also remember that there was
still some controversy among people who work in this field.  The drag reduc-
tions were apparently small and difficult to resolve.  I believe that this
fellow who worked with dolphins was supported by the US Navy?