Tagged Questions

1
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1answer
81 views

Initial position and velocity of rocket to escape earth's gravity

I'm trying to numerically simulate a spacecraft trajectory between earth and mars. I already wrote the solar system model where the sun is at the origin of the x,y,z plane Earth and Mars are orbiting ...
0
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2answers
74 views

Will a helicoper which is hovering inside a closed box move with the box when we move it? [duplicate]

I got this micro helicopter to play with, you know that cheap double bladed ones you can find for $25 or so. Anyway last night I was on bed trying to sleep and I got this idea, what if we put the ...
-6
votes
4answers
341 views

Violation of Newton's Second Law (?)

Here the big circle denotes the circular path of a stone(small circle on path) tied to a string from the centre of the circular path . This is COMPLETELY HORIZONTAL At an instant the velocity in ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views

Energy needed to lift and bring down an object

A mass of 0.5 Kg needs to be moved from point A to another point (B) which is 1 meters above point A. The time for this movement should be 0.2 seconds, then the mass is kept at position B for another ...
0
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3answers
91 views

Parachute in vacuum

Consider that the earth is vacuum. Consider a person of weight 100 kg is falling from sky with an parachute . He is free falling at height of 3000 m. When will he reach the ground? What would happen ...
0
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2answers
104 views

What mechanisms exist for generating lift on a static object?

What mechanisms exist for generating lift on a static object? Condition is: Other than propellers I know that generating lift on a static object in a sense of anti-gravity for e.g. drone is not ...
1
vote
2answers
91 views

Why does gravity assist transfer twice the planet's velocity?

In orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering a gravitational slingshot (also known as gravity assist manoeuver or swing-by) is the use of the relative movement and gravity of a planet or other ...
5
votes
4answers
462 views

Why do we weigh less when falling?

I don't want to go to science world to find out because it would be a long round-trip. I understand that acceleration/deceleration would effect the weight and I can also imagine that someone at ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views

Vertical Load Reactions On A Ramp

Hello, I'm working on a small hardware project. I have two load sensors located at distance $S_1$ ($x=0$) and $S_2$. Assuming we ignore the weight of the ramp ... What is the load on $S_1$ and ...
3
votes
2answers
207 views

Bowling ball on a rubber sheet

After reading a layman's guide to general relativity, I began to wonder what shape a bowling ball on a large rubber sheet would produce. For simplicity, I would like to assume that Hooke's law applies ...
25
votes
6answers
1k views

Can I survive a free fall using a ramp and a rope?

Can I survive a free fall by carrying a very light and resistant ramp using a rope? Note: lets assume the ramp is a little bit heavier at the bottom and I am very skilled at making it always land ...
6
votes
3answers
229 views

Tidal force on far side

I have a question about tidal forces on the far side of a body experiencing gravitational attraction from another body. Let's assume we have two spherical bodies $A$ and $B$ whose centers are $D$ ...
2
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0answers
135 views

Early stages of a computational model for object movement charting

We would like to build a computational model capable of accurately predicting the position of any object inside a chamber at any given time. Inside the model we would have a number of smaller ...
0
votes
1answer
64 views

A Decrease In Momentum?

The specifics of a question I am working on are, "After a 0.280-kg rubber ball is dropped from a height of 1.80 m, it bounces off a concrete floor and rebounds to a height of 1.45 m." Why doesn't the ...
1
vote
1answer
96 views

Conservation of momentum with MOND

Assuming as true the phenomenological MOND law for low accelerations ($< 10^{-10} m s^{-2} = a_0$), and considering a small mass $m$ attached to a larger mass $M$ by a faint spring (let's think of ...
1
vote
1answer
127 views

Velocity required for Horizontal Rain

Related to my previous question - Change in appearance of liquid drop due to gravity... Ok, I think we all have noticed this practical phenomena (a kind of illusion though)... During rain (while ...
3
votes
3answers
341 views

How to measure force of impact inside container?

I am in 7th grade and for my science fair project, I need a way to measure the force on a dropped object when it hits the ground. What I am trying to determine is which packing materials provide the ...
2
votes
3answers
523 views

Why would a fat skydiver fall first in free fall?

I was having one of those obnoxious conversations with a friend where he was arguing that a fat skydiver would reach the ground faster than a skinny skydiver. To me it seemed as obvious that the world ...
1
vote
1answer
138 views

Is $w=mg$ the right way to calculate mass?

How can you find the mass of an object by using a weight and a gravitational acceleration from another planet then earth? I was given $5.8\text{ N}$ and an acceleration of $4.0\ \mathrm{m/s^2}$. The ...
2
votes
1answer
194 views

What is the longest distance that can be jumped after swinging from a rope?

In the movie Mission Impossible 3, the main character Ethan Hunt tries to enter a building in Shanghai by swing through the sky, as shown below: The jump consists of 2 sections, the red part, which ...
2
votes
2answers
250 views

Lever Mechanics - How to formulate an ideal lever launch

Let's say I have a simple lever as shown below, and the lever is massless and the pivot is frictionless and there is no air resistance. I'm thinking the cradle for the projectile would have to have a ...
2
votes
1answer
489 views

The trajectory of a projectile launched from a hilltop

Here is the problem: A boy stands at the peak of a hill which slopes downward uniformly at angle $\phi$. At what angle $\theta$ from the horizontal should he throw a rock so that it has the greatest ...
1
vote
1answer
118 views

Determining Orbital Velocity

Is there any way to determine the orbital velocity of a point around another stationary point, if I don't know the mass of either of the points but know the force that gravity exerts and the distance ...
2
votes
4answers
539 views

How long must escape velocity be maintained?

Escape velocity from Earth's surface is 11.2 Kilometres/second How long would one need to maintain this escape velocity to actually escape Earth's gravitational pull? Must this 11.2 km/s velocity ...
0
votes
0answers
180 views

The Gravity Spring [closed]

This problem examines the scenario of a tunnel drilled through the center of the Earth, and the length of time required for an object to fall through the hole and back again. use trigonometry to ...
1
vote
0answers
22 views

Time for two objects to gravitationally attract each other [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: The Time That 2 Masses Will Collide Due To Newtonian Gravity A student of mine has been working to calculate the amount of time it would take two identical objects, ...
0
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2answers
2k views

Why does a parachute decrease terminal velocity?

Terminal Velocity depends on two things- surface area and speed. These are inversely proportionate. If both these variables affect terminal velocity, why do parachutes slow you down? Initially you ...
0
votes
1answer
255 views

Does the earth's gravity affect horizontal movement?

In a frictionless environment, would the weight of an object affect how hard it is to move it horizontally? Since without friction, there is no horizontal force resisting your applied force, would the ...
2
votes
2answers
151 views

Raising a toolbox with a rope

Suppose you use a rope to hoist a box of tools vertically at constant speed v. The rope exerts a constant upward force of magnitude F_up on the box, and gravity exerts a constant downward force (the ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views

Would a light or a heavy ball roll fastest down a slope?

A small, light ball and a larger, heavier ball are released from the top of a slope. Which will move further? which will come down faster?
0
votes
2answers
412 views

Basic Free Fall Problem [closed]

So I am trying to remember my childhood doing some Physics problems, but seems that I forgot almost everything. But it's not a big thing... that's why I'm training! My problem is pretty basic ...
0
votes
1answer
105 views

Question regarding escape velocity

Haliday-Resnick-Walker state that the escape velocity will cause a projectile to move upward forever, theoretically coming to rest only at infinity. I was wondering what the forces forcing the body ...
0
votes
0answers
307 views

Two objects with masses Question help [closed]

I got this wrong on a test. Can someone explain how to get the answers? I provided the answers. I just need an explanation. Two objects with masses of 3.10 kg and 6.90 kg are connected by a light ...
2
votes
3answers
659 views

Initial vs Constant Orbital Velocity

I am working on some basic physics simulation for a game and need to simulate gravity. I have a system working that is behaving more or less correctly so far, but I want to see if I can send a ...
3
votes
4answers
300 views

N particles, will there be any rotation after a period of time or everything will collapse

This is in context of classical Newtonian physics. Consider a system of n different point mass particles. Initially all are spread around on one plane. No particle possess any velocity to begin with. ...
5
votes
3answers
222 views

Rocket launch from a mountain

If we were to build a high speed rail up the side of a mountain like in some ScFi movies, what is the velocity needed at the point of living the mountain excluding angular momentum from earth’s ...
3
votes
5answers
563 views

Confused about the role of mass

I'm far from being a physics expert and figured this would be a good place to ask a beginner question that has been confusing me for some time. According to Galileo, two bodies of different masses, ...
9
votes
3answers
391 views

infinite grid of planets with newtonian gravity

Assuming only Newtonian gravity, suppose that the universe consists of an infinite number of uniform planets, uniformly distributed in a two-dimensional grid infinite in both directions and not moving ...
10
votes
5answers
7k views

jumping into water

Two questions: Assuming you dive head first or fall straight with your legs first, what is the maximal height you can jump into water from and not get hurt? In other words, an H meter fall into ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views

Forces in a Pendulum

Help me visualise the forces found in a pendulum. I know weight can be decomposed into $F_x$ and $F_y$. Centripetal force, acceleration and velocity are three words that I'm confused. Centripetal ...
7
votes
1answer
148 views

Mass Needed to Clear an Orbital Neighborhood

In 2006 the IAU deemed that Pluto was no longer a planet because it fails to "clear" the neighborhood around its Kuiper Belt orbit. Presumably, this is because Pluto (1.305E22 kg) has insufficient ...
1
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4answers
2k views

Upward force on a object at rest

Is there an upward force on a object at rest? If yes, where does it come from?
4
votes
2answers
910 views

How does Newtonian mechanics explain why orbiting objects do not fall to the object they are orbiting?

The force of gravity is constantly being applied to an orbiting object. And therefore the object is constantly accelerating. Why doesn't gravity eventually "win" over the object's momentum, like a ...
1
vote
5answers
478 views

Conserved quantities in generalized n-body problem

Given a collection of point-particles, interacting through an attractive force $\sim \frac{1}{r^2}$. Knowing only $m_1a=\sum_i \frac{Gm_1m_i}{r^2}$ and initial conditions we can deduce the motion of ...