Normally when a ball moves, it rolls toward where it goes. But when you spin a ball with its axis vertical to the floor, it somehow still moves. How does it works?

Question

Normally when a ball moves, it rolls toward where it goes. But when you spin a ball with its axis vertical to the floor, it somehow still moves. How does it works?

In: Physics

Answer 1

When you spin the ball, as well as pushing it around to make it spin, you will have pushed it a little in one direction, even if you didn’t intend to do so. On top of that, the surface the ball is on won’t be perfectly horizontal or perfectly even, and this may cause the ball to move off in some direction.