Dynamics of the rolling and sliding of an elongated cylinder

• We model the surprising fast spinning of a cylinder after a snap of a finger.
• It first rises with large oscillations, then goes to a quasi-stationary state.
• We consider rolling and sliding friction, and Kutta–Joukowski effect.
• The numerical simulations agree well with the real observed motion.

A snap of a finger on an elongated cylinder produces on it a surprising fast spinning motion during which its mass center rises with very large oscillations. After that, the mass center goes to a long quasi-stationary oscillations state and eventually goes down very slowly. To explain this behavior we present a theoretical and numerical analysis of the dynamics of a spinning elongated cylinder moving with a single point of contact on a horizontal plane under the action of gravity. The study has been made taking into account the rolling and sliding dissipation as well as the Kutta–Joukowski airflow effect. The results of the simulations are in agreement qualitatively with the observed real motion.