Hi Carbs.
Yes it’s possible using physics. Although even if you use the exact physical solution, you need to tweak things to make it look the way you want.
Here is an example of me solving the bouncing ball using the exact physical equation.
https://cgcookie.com/lesson/drivers-and-custom-properties
However, I had to tweak things, like gravity to make it look the way I wanted.
The main reason it is better to animate this by hand is because you can make animation look better than real life.