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Here's why golf balls have dimples

You'd think that smooth golf balls would travel farther than the dimpled ones we use today.

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But that would be wrong.

And there's actually some fun physics behind the dented ball design we see on today's golf courses.

Let's imagine a smooth ball flying through the air.

As the ball travels, its front surface will come into contact with the air. That air will then smoothly go over the front and separate from the ball towards the back.

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That separation leaves a "turbulent wake region" behind the ball, which creates drag on the ball.

However, if we add dimples to our theoretical ball, we will be able to minimize the turbulent wake and, therefore, the drag on the ball.

As to Scientific American:

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