Wall Bounce

Interactive simulation — adjust parameters and watch the visualization update in real time.

Live graphs

How it works

A puck slides inside a rectangular enclosure with smooth walls. Each impact reverses the normal component of velocity scaled by the coefficient of restitution e while leaving the tangential component unchanged. With e = 1 kinetic energy is conserved at every bounce; with e < 1 each collision dissipates energy until the puck nearly stops (especially with gravity, when it settles on the floor).

Key equations

v′ = v − (1+e)(v·n)n  ·  n into interior, v·n < 0
e = 1: elastic  ·  e = 0: no bounce along n