Real-world ballistics: A dropped bucket
Abstract
I discuss an apparently simple ballistics problem: the time it takes an object to fall a small vertical distance near the surface of the Earth. It turns out to be not so simple; I spend a great deal of time on the quantitative assessment of the assumptions involved, especially with regards to the influence of the air. The point is \emph{not} to solve the problem; indeed I don't even end up solving the problem exactly. I introduce dimensional analysis to perform all of the calculations approximately. The principal theme of the lecture is that \emph{real} physics can be very different from ``textbook'' physics, since in the real world you aren't ever told what equations are appropriate, or why.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0709.0107,
title = {Real-world ballistics: A dropped bucket},
author = {David W. Hogg},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.0107},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
A classroom lecture turned into a written document