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The lanes of a bowling alley are covered in oil. in general most
lanes are more
oily in the center and less on the outside. This helps to
prevent the ball from
sliding into the cutter by increasing the friction on the
outside of the lane.
However, the oil on the inside of the lane is made to decrease
the amount of
friction between the ball and the surface. The force of friction
is equal to the
friction coefficient times the normal force of the lane on the
ball. The more oily
the lane the smaller the friction coefficient which can be a
good thing or
a bad thing depending on how you look at the situation. On the
plus having
a smaller friction coefficient means that the ball will travel
at a higher
velocity and therefore hit the pins with a greater force. On the
negative
less friction decreases the amount that a bowling ball will hook
therefore
decreases the angle at which you can hit the pins.
Source: www.school-for-champions.com
There are two
types of motion as the ball moves down
the lane, sliding and
rolling. While the friction slows down
the velocity associated with sliding it
actually speeds up the angular velocity.
This is because as the ball spins it is
actually pushing backward with a force
against the surface of the lane
and the
friction between the lane and the ball pushes in the opposite
direction
propelling the ball into a spin. Eventually as the ball moves
down the lane, its
motion should become pure rolling with no sliding.