Related papers: The complexities of falling freely
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…
How long does it take to fall down a tunnel through the center of the Earth to the other side? Assuming a uniformly dense Earth, it would take 42 minutes, but this assumption has not been validated. This paper examines the gravity tunnel…
Evolution of a particle in an inverse square potential is studied. We derive an equation of motion for $\left<r^2\right>$ and solve it exactly. It gives us a possibility to identify the conditions under which a falling of a quantum particle…
The time it takes to fall down a tunnel through the center of the Earth to the other side takes approximately 42 minutes, but only when given several simplifying assumptions: a uniform density Earth; a gravitational field that varies…
A simple setup was assembled to study the motion of an object while it falls. The setup was used to determine the instantaneous velocity, terminal velocity and acceleration due to gravity. Also, since the whole project was done within $20…
We point out that the universality of free-fall can be tested by observing surface-gravity changes of the Earth. The Earth's inner core is weakly coupled to the rest part of the Earth by mainly gravitational forces. If there were a…
An acoustic method is presented for analyzing the time of falling motion. A ball is dropped from a measured height. The dropping device makes a distinct sound a well-determined time (roughly 14 milliseconds) after release. The ball…
We describe the non-relativistic time evolution of an ultra-cold degenerate quantum gas (bosons/fermions) falling in Earth's gravity during long times (10 sec) and over large distances (100 m). This models a drop tower experiment that is…
Owing to Earth's rotation a free-fall body would move in an elliptical orbit rather than along a straight line forward to the center of the Earth. In this paper on the basis of the theory for spin-spin coupling between macroscopic rotating…
Several scenarios used in teaching feature a rolling motion with slipping that transitions to one without through friction with the ground. We summarise these transitions by introducing an unknown impulse that is transferred to the ground.…
When a coin falls in water, its trajectory is one of four types determined by its dimensionless moment of inertia $I^\ast$ and Reynolds number Re: (A) steady; (B) fluttering; (C) chaotic; or (D) tumbling. The dynamics induced by the…
As an object of study, we chose the global activity of strong earthquakes (M > 7). The subject of the study is the waiting time for the next strong earthquake. The purpose of the study is to compare two distributions of waiting time, one of…
The torque-free motion of rigid body in gravitational field is analyzed. The coin lands on a soft surface (such as the palm of the hand) that allows no bouncing. The model assumes the coin as a rigid body with constant angular momentum…
The most common way to find gravitational acceleration, g, in a laboratory is to use a simple pendulum and a clock. Alternately, g can be calculated by measuring time and distance for a free fall. Since the time of free fall in a laboratory…
"Ground effect" refers to the enhanced performance enjoyed by fliers or swimmers operating close to the ground. We derive a number of exact solutions for this phenomenon, thereby elucidating the underlying physical mechanisms involved in…
If gravity were an emergent phenomenon, some relativistic as well as non-relativistic speculations claim it is, then a certain emergence time scale tau_? would characterize it. We argue that the available experimental evidences have poor…
We present the scientific motivation for future space tests of the equivalence principle, and in particular the universality of free fall, at the $10^{-17}$ level or better. Two possible mission scenarios, one based on quantum technologies,…
The fall of a particle to the center of a singular potential U(r) is one of a few fundamental problems of quantum mechanics. Nonetheless, its solution is not complete yet. The known results just indicate that if U(r) decays fast enough at r…
Have you ever taken a disputed decision by tossing a coin and checking its landing side? This ancestral "heads or tails" practice is still widely used when facing undecided alternatives since it relies on the intuitive fairness of…
Newtonian gravity can be regarded as a hypothetic-deductive system where the inverse square law is the starting point from which gravitational phenomena are deduced. This operational form of presenting gravity endorses problem solving and…