Does ball weight matter?

For fun I measured the weight of different golf balls. All where 46 grams. One model was at 45 grams.

I just wonder how a lighter ball would effect the flight?

One gram may be not much. But for fun: what if the ball was 5 grams lighter?

ask your wife

but for real it would effect distance. the force imparted on the ball at it's simplest forms (not including angle of attack, loft etc) is F= m x a. lessening the mass would reduce the amount of force the ball has at initial contact. In this conservative therom force is a derivative of energy and less energy is less distance.

It's a pretty complicated physics equation. Because you have air resistance, density, and the amount of energy needed to accelerate the ball all going hand in hand. In general, if the ball gets lighter but keeps the same dimensions (i.e. the density goes down), the distance it travels will be less.

For a 100mph swing speed with a normal weight club, the maximum distance you could get with a ball would be one that weighs 80g. But that value is dependent on how fast you swing. There is a reason that the ball has to weigh 45.93g.

Lift up a ProV1 or similar ball...heft it, roll it around in your hands a little. Now, grab a Nitro or a Top Flite and do the same. The cheap ball is, at least in my experience, going to be noticeably lighter. Because of physics and stuff, we know that, all other things equal, the lighter ball should go further. But, add in things like materials science (compression and rebound of the ball), fluid dynamics (the susceptibility of a lighter object to be moved by air), and a multitude of other things that I can' think of at the moment, and we're left with a heavier ball that goes longer and truer than a lighter one. That's why persons like you and other golfers spend the big bucks on ProV1's (I'm not a fan of PV1's myself, I'd rather hit a Bridgestone): There are scads of smart folks who get paid to make balls go farther, and the cost of a heavier ball can be overcome by using your brain to science (and to verb your nouns).

i believe a lighter ball will wind up having a lower terminal velocity, and thus will not travel as far for most players. That is the rationale for having a weight limit on a conforming ball in the rules of golf. If the ball was heavier, skilled players would be able to hit it farther.

Lighter golf balls can go either longer or shorter depending on SS. Below 90MPH SS and lighter goes farther and above 100MPH the heavier goes further.

https://www.tutelman.com/golf/ballflight/ballWeight.php