The Physics of Beyblades

Yeah, longer is always better. If you have any really long ones though, then they are likely "fake" ones. It would be considered cheating to use them in tournaments if they are not official Takara Tomy, Sonokong or Hasbro brand beyblade accessories.
(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: Thank you, Poseidon. So let me get this straight, the direction it's spinning when you launch affects how it moves around the field? That's so cool, I didn't think about that.
Yeah, flat tips (and round ones, somewhat) will contact the floor of the stadium along the flat part's edge - this basically turns the tip into a tiny wheel that propels the Beyblade along. Reversing the spin direction will naturally change the direction of motion, and banking the launch to change which parts of the tip contact the floor will change the direction of travel as well.

(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: Ok, so right now what we are working with is a bag of Beyblade parts, though I'm not super sure which generation they come from. Our Physics teacher has just collected them from garage sales. Just going through the bag, I have a couple questions
I'm going to assume that everything you have is MFB, given that your previous lab writeup uses MFB.

(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: 1) Do these frilly tracks do anything? Like, is it worth looking in to if the ones with independently spinning wheels and whatnot affect performance?
Since bulkier tracks add more mass, gimmicked tracks are generally stronger than their simple counterparts. Some tracks will add a lot of recoil due to their shape, though, and others can cause balance problems (GB145). BD145 is susceptible to very nasty floor scraping, and as a result requires the use of taller tips to avoid touching the ground (and causing huge amounts of friction and energy loss from impacts). Tracks with free-spinning gimmicks like TR145 and ED145 can help provide a last-resort low friction cushion for the Beyblade, which is extremely useful for spin stealers, who need every last bit of last-second endurance they can get to avoid constant ties. Winged tracks have negligible aerodynamic effects; they are only useful because the wings add mass.

(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: 2) Same as above, but for all the odd kinds of plastic rings
With Energy Rings / Clear Wheels (different names for the same thing) you again want more mass in an outwardly distributed manner. Heavy CWs like Kerbecs and Aquario have been Defense and Stamina staples for a long time, though currently Cygnus is generally regarded as the best for pretty much everything. Clear Wheels can also be used for offensive purposes occasionally, by choosing aggressively shaped parts like Scorpio for extra Attack power against tall opponents, or by using CWs like Horogium or Pisces to expose attack points on the Metal Wheel itself. Some CWs also have particularly strong synergy with certain Metal Wheels (Cancer on Phantom, Orion on Flash, Lacerta, Byxis, and Horuseus on Vulcan) due to similar shapes that accentuate the existing features on the Metal Wheel.

(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: 3) Someone mentioned a metal bolt, but all ours are plastic, is that weird?
Metal Faces generally have to be bought separately from Beyblades (though some recolors and special edition Beyblades have them by default), so it makes sense that you wouldn't have any. Metal Faces add quite a bit of weight over a standard plastic one, but pull the weight distribution inwards, which can hurt Stamina somewhat. Metal Faces are great for Attack and Defense, where the extra mass keeps recoil under control and makes it harder to be KOed.

(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: 4) Does difference in ripcord length make a big difference, because we have about four different sizes
Longer ripcords allow you to accelerate to a higher speed over the course of your launch, so they are better than a short one. It's strange that you have different lengths, though - are any of them broken?

(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: I also have a larger point of confusion about attack types, why don't their attacks also slow them down? Shouldn't "equal and opposite reaction" mean nobody can really get ahead? Or is it all in the way the metal wheels interact? Is it more about destabilizing than slowing down?
Attack types are designed to knock opponents out of the Stadium completely - a Beyblade that leaves the Stadium loses the round. Defense types in turn attempt to resist being knocked out by having a lot of weight and high-friction tips to make them harder to move or knock into the air. Stamina types then exploit Defense types' high-friction setup and smooth profiles to safely spin on low-friction setups that are in turn vulnerable to being clobbered by Attack types. Attack types typically have awful Stamina - their aggressive designs cause them to lose a lot of energy on each hit, trying to use that energy to knock the opponent out. If a Defense type or even a lucky Stamina type can survive the first few seconds of a match against an Attacker, the Attack type will have too little energy remaining to knock its opponent out, and it will lose to its opponent. Attack/Stamina hybrids (or Stamina/Attack) work by going for the KO against Stamina types and avoiding contact with Defense types, turning the battle into a solo spin time contest. The tip MF (Metal Flat) is great for this, because, as a flat tip, it causes movement around the Stadium, but the metal has low friction with the plastic floor, allowing for high Stamina. MF combos will circle the Stadium, being held in by the Tornado Ridge (the lip around the center of the Stadium); this tactic earns them the name of "Tornado Stallers".
Really enjoyable post, Cake. Grin
Hey guys, I am doing IB, and am thinking of doing my EE (extended essay) on the Physics of Beyblade. All the things you guys have said on the thread is pretty helpful, along with the Physics thread of the forums. however, there is one thing I want to be clear about to do my essay : the tips. What Physical properties allow the tips to 'do their thing"? For example, why does a flat tip result in an erratic, fast-paced behavior? Why does a sharp tip allow for stamina? What tips make it less easy for Beys to wobble and why? What properties of tips should Attack, Defense and Stamina beys look for?
if you can answer any of these questions (preferably the first two ones), I would be really grateful. I have played beyblades in the past, but it is no longer my hobby unfortunately.
(Feb. 16, 2016  3:49 AM)tuankhai Wrote: Hey guys, I am doing IB, and am thinking of doing my EE (extended essay) on the Physics of Beyblade. All the things you guys have said on the thread is pretty helpful, along with the Physics thread of the forums. however, there is one thing I want to be clear about to do my essay : the tips. What Physical properties allow the tips to 'do their thing"? For example, why does a flat tip result in an erratic, fast-paced behavior? Why does a sharp tip allow for stamina? What tips make it less easy for Beys to wobble and why? What properties of tips should Attack, Defense and Stamina beys look for?
if you can answer any of these questions (preferably the first two ones), I would be really grateful. I have played beyblades in the past, but it is no longer my hobby unfortunately.

I explained most if not all of it here : https://worldbeyblade.org/Thread-Physics?pid=229485&highlight=tips#pid229485
(Feb. 16, 2016  3:49 AM)tuankhai Wrote: Hey guys, I am doing IB, and am thinking of doing my EE (extended essay) on the Physics of Beyblade. All the things you guys have said on the thread is pretty helpful, along with the Physics thread of the forums. however, there is one thing I want to be clear about to do my essay : the tips. What Physical properties allow the tips to 'do their thing"? For example, why does a flat tip result in an erratic, fast-paced behavior? Why does a sharp tip allow for stamina? What tips make it less easy for Beys to wobble and why? What properties of tips should Attack, Defense and Stamina beys look for?
if you can answer any of these questions (preferably the first two ones), I would be really grateful. I have played beyblades in the past, but it is no longer my hobby unfortunately.

The biggest elements of tip performance are friction and shape.

To summarize each Beyblade type's goals:
- Stamina types want to minimize friction so they will spin for longer, Defense types want more friction to resist being moved around, and Attack types want more friction to help their flat tips grip the Stadium floor, increasing their speed and reducing recoil.
- Stamina types benefit from tips with a fine point, which minimizes friction and wasted energy on movement. They also usually make use of conical or circular surfaces to help prevent the Beyblade from falling over as it spins. Defense types use rounded or flat tips, which have greater friction than more pointy Stamina tips, in order to resist Attack types. Attack types use flat tips to convert rotational velocity into movement - as the edge of the flat tip rests against the inclined Stadium floor and spins, it effectively acts as a tiny wheel to propel the Beyblade around.

With Stamina types, combo design generally involves minimizing losses due to friction from the Stadium floor - in part by choosing a tip material like metal or plastic instead of rubber, but also my minimizing the torque any friction or rolling resistance would cause. Once a Beyblade loses enough rotational velocity, it will begin to precess until some part of its perimeter touches the Stadium floor. Once it touches the floor, the friction and rolling resistance from that part of the Beyblade exert a significant amount of torque on the Beyblade, stopping it quickly. A good Stamina type will usually have at least one layer of protection against this - typically a smooth ring capable of supporting the Beyblade, preventing it from falling over completely. The ring's smoothness and smaller radius than the rest of the Beyblade reduce the torque exerted on the Beyblade as it falls over, prolonging its life by as much as several seconds. Cone-shaped tips like the inaccurately-named Defense series (ex. WD, EWD, D, SD) are excellent for Stamina, because the base of the wide, flat cone provides such a ring for the rest of the Beyblade to rest on. Wide flat tips like XF or GF are also effective at prolonging the life of a Beyblade (though, as flat tips, aren't great for Stamina), as well as Tracks and Tips with wide, smooth rings like CF, GCF, or SA165. Pointed tips like the Sharp series (S, BS, MS) aren't as effective as the conical Defense series because although they are pointed and have low friction, they provide no protection against wobbling or falling over like the Defense series does.

Hopefully this will help answer your questions, though I'm happy to explain further if I lost you with my rambling XD
Technically though, the Beyblade is mostly always upright, perpendicular with the ground, so you really have to refer to the circumference of the tip as well as the weight imbalancing (?) as the cause for the erratic movement. The only moment the tip is close to being flat, parallel with the stadium floor, is when the Beyblade is in the centre of the stadium, but even then it moves away because of the momentum and there is almost always a slope even in the centre.

Most tips only ever have one very small dot of contact with the stadium, even WB, and Flat only has that much more contact because of the cylinder.
(Feb. 16, 2016  5:12 AM)Kai-V Wrote: Technically though, the Beyblade is mostly always upright, perpendicular with the ground, so you really have to refer to the circumference of the tip as well as the weight imbalancing (?) as the cause for the erratic movement. The only moment the tip is close to being flat, parallel with the stadium floor, is when the Beyblade is in the centre of the stadium, but even then it moves away because of the momentum and there is almost always a slope even in the centre.

Most tips only ever have one very small dot of contact with the stadium, even WB, and Flat only has that much more contact because of the cylinder.

What exactly is the part that you're disagreeing with? Because I definitely agree with what you're saying here, is my phrasing off somewhere?
Just that you seemed to be refering to the flat part on the underside of the tip, but if you agree it is all cool hah.
Guys, I have decided to narrow my research project to:
-How the shapes of the tips affect movement /performance ( explain why Flat tips create erratic movement, why Sharp tips spin longer and ball-shaped tips and wide tips like WD result in more balanced).
-How the materials of the tips affect movement/performance (explain why Rubber has low stamina, metal tips are good).
What do I need to know, Physics-wise, to explain this? (I have been researching gyroscopic precession lately. Is it necessary?)
I am not sure what to tell you in terms of concept names, but I and others have explained a lot already in th Physics topic that is inside the Beywiki Project forum. Did you make sure to read the articles already posted?

About gyroscopic precession, Beyblades do not have that many axes of rotation.
(Oct. 27, 2015  9:54 PM)Hammurabi8 Wrote: Ok, so right now what we are working with is a bag of Beyblade parts, though I'm not super sure which generation they come from. Our Physics teacher has just collected them from garage sales. Just going through the bag, I have a couple questions
Hey Hammaurabi, just like the others I am a Physics and Beyblade enthusiast, and am happy to help in any way possible!

Would you mind posting a picture of the parts and or launchers you are using for your lab? I think it could help me and the rest of us focus more on one specific generation as the different generations have different rules and slightly different physics. (Id recommend uploading it on some website and posting a link to the image.)

And concerning the "Metal Bolt" Plastic bolts are much more common, a metal bolt is just a rare variant part that can be used to add weight, limit recoil and increase stamina via the flywheel effect.
Happy to help in anyway possible-StormPyxis

(Feb. 23, 2016  12:29 AM)tuankhai Wrote: Guys, I have decided to narrow my research project to:
-How the shapes of the tips affect movement /performance ( explain why Flat tips create erratic movement, why Sharp tips spin longer and ball-shaped tips and wide tips like WD result in more balanced).
-How the materials of the tips affect movement/performance (explain why Rubber has low stamina, metal tips are good).
What do I need to know, Physics-wise, to explain this? (I have been researching gyroscopic precession lately. Is it necessary?)
tuankhai,
I've found that friction is the most determining factor in the movement and performance of a beyblade, tips with more surface area (Flat, Wide Flat, Giga Flat, Rubber Flat) and circular shapes tend to translate the angular momentum of the top into an aggressive pattern. The circular tip sort of rolls like a wheel around the bowl of the stadium VERY fast. The more surface area in a flat tip the faster it will move usually. Sharp tips spin longer (this is removing the fact that they aren't very useful in competitive terms as they have little to no balance) Because of the opposite. They lose very little power to friction as only one small sharp point of the tip is actually in contact with the stadium floor, and thus less power is translated into unnecessary movement. WD and Ball have better balance than Sharp and its variants because they have more area for the top to recover with after the top has lost some power to friction and has been spinning for some time, I would recommend WD for stamina because of this. And different material tips interact differently because of the friction each of the three materials have with the stadiums plastic. Rubber tips have very high amounts of friction against the floor (Why tires are made of rubber) making them have more grip (resulting in more defense or attack depending on what rubber tip) Plastic tips have intermediate amounts of friction, making them most valuable for their unique shapes. And metal having the least friction slides around a lot, losing very little power to friction and generally spinning longer while free spinning. Hope I was able to contribute, StormPyxis
Are there any good articles relating to the information you have given me? Cause I need to have references for my essay, and I cannot quote people from the beywiki ( even though you guys have given me basically all the information I need to get started).
Man, my source is mostly my father, who has been a physics teacher for years, but I doubt any of us are actually aware of what articles journals have published on the matter of spinning tops, unfortunately.
I don't think there are any professional articles on the topic of beyblades, Ask your professor if you can quote the people you got information from as "Beyblade Professionals" Or something.
Far as I can tell, this PDF publication from Chris Provatidis is the most recent comprehensive analysis of spinning top physics from an experimental point of view. The paper looks specifically at spinning tops; as distinct from the thousands of others written on the general subject of spinning and rotational forces. I assume it will be of basically no use to you in your project because it is so dense - and whatever information it provides will largely become irrelevant when subjected to the design and metagame of Beyblade. Still, quote just one idea from this paper and you'll have a nice shiny footnote for your essay.

For the record though, it is entirely appropriate to quote sources outside of academia - especially for such a niche subject. Any professor who tells you otherwise is simply not worth the effort. He is a fool. And on the back of that wildly inflamatory remark, I might suggest you take a look at the most recent episode of Formula Bei in which I discuss some of the basic principles of designing a WarShell. It is quite shallow. If you end up using my material in your essay, just send me a PM and I'll give you the proper reference format.
I'm also thinking of doing my IB Extended essay on beyblade physics.
found an article online two years ago, it is really good in terms of putting together the relationship between beyblade and physics. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index...819AAldhxu
(Mar. 06, 2016  11:52 PM)DECEPTICON Wrote: found an article online two years ago, it is really good in terms of putting together the relationship between beyblade and physics. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index...819AAldhxu

It definitely is quite good and precise. The only problem could be getting this page officially accepted as a source of knowledge, because answers from yahoo clever can basically be just as wrong as articles from wikipedia, which is why at least in our school (and now university as well) sources like wikipedia, yahoo and all similar German pages are forbidden for gathering information.

Nevertheless, I´d recommend using the pdf publication Beylon posted. The yahoo post is good to explain absolute noobs the basic physics, but that pdf goes much more into detail, leaves pretty much nothing unmentioned and is a little more accurate.
Right now I have a kaiser kerbeus ( yes i know its not that good ) and im trying to put its driver on my L-Spin Lost Longinus
My Question is : Does the difference in type effect my combo?

( And yes , beyblade comes VERY LATE in Indonesia )