Exploding Bouncing Balls with Gravity

A Python program that simulates balls bouncing with realistic physics, featuring an explosive chain reaction system where balls split into multiple smaller balls when they hit surfaces.

Features

Realistic gravity physics with bounce effects
Explosive chain reactions - balls split into smaller balls on impact
Colorful visual effects - each explosion creates balls of different colors
Progressive ball splitting - larger balls create more smaller balls
Performance optimization - limits total balls to prevent lag
Real-time ball counter and position display
Interactive controls for resetting the simulation

Installation

Make sure you have Python 3.11+ installed
Install the required dependencies:
```
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

Running the Program

python bouncing_ball.py

Controls

SPACE: Reset to a single ball
ESC: Quit the program
Close window: Exit the program

Physics Parameters

You can modify these constants in the code to change the behavior:

GRAVITY = 0.5: Strength of gravity (pixels per frame squared)
BOUNCE_FACTOR = 0.8: Energy retention on bounce (0.0 to 1.0)
FRICTION = 0.99: Air resistance factor (0.0 to 1.0)
SPLASH_COUNT = 8: Number of balls created per explosion
SPLASH_VELOCITY = 8: Initial velocity of explosion balls
MIN_BALL_RADIUS = 3: Minimum size before balls stop exploding

How the Explosion System Works

Initial Ball: Starts as a large red ball at the top
First Impact: When the ball hits the ground with sufficient velocity, it explodes
Chain Reaction: Each explosion creates 8 smaller balls in different colors
Progressive Splitting: Larger balls create more dramatic explosions
Size Limit: Balls smaller than 6 pixels radius stop exploding
Performance: System limits to 100 balls maximum to maintain smooth performance

Visual Effects

Color Variety: Explosions create balls in red, blue, green, orange, purple, and yellow
Size Scaling: Explosion velocity scales with the original ball's size
Random Distribution: Balls explode in a circular pattern with slight randomness
Real-time Stats: Shows current ball count and main ball position

Physics Simulation

The program uses realistic physics including:

Gravity: Continuous downward acceleration
Collision Detection: Bounces off all window boundaries
Energy Conservation: Bounce factor reduces energy on each collision
Friction: Air resistance gradually slows movement
Explosion Physics: Momentum conservation in splash patterns

Watch as a single ball creates a spectacular chain reaction of colorful explosions!

datitran/bouncing-ball