Tagged Questions

5
votes
2answers
72 views

Conceptually, what is negative work?

I'm having some trouble understanding the concept of negative work. For example, my book says that if I lower a box to the ground, the box does positive work on my hands and my hands do negative work ...
0
votes
1answer
34 views

What lifting mechanism is likely to have the best energy recovery ratio?

Suppose I was designing an apparatus which needed to lift 250kg 5cm high, hold it there for a few seconds, and then lower the object back to the original height. Such a process would need to be ...
4
votes
1answer
86 views

(Re-)use of a space elevator (basic mechanics and potential energy source)

It's said that if a space elevator were made then it would be much more efficient to put objects in orbit. I've always wondered about the durability of a space elevator though. I don't mean the ...
5
votes
2answers
496 views

Ball Rolling in a Parabolic Bowl

I encountered a physics problem which inquired about a ball rolling inside a parabolic bowl (i.e. a bowl where any cross section through the vertex would make a parabolic shape given by $y = kx^2$). ...
1
vote
0answers
89 views

Is there analysis library for stress-strain data?

I have three column data that has time-displacement-force from 1D tensile/compression test. Now I would like to get the standard mechanical properties of the material, like Young modulus, yield ...
1
vote
0answers
239 views

How equivalent are heat energy and work energy in connection with a spinning flywheel?

Let's say we have two identical spinning flywheels, that have arbitrary geometry, and are made of copper. Now we apply some heat energy at the center point of flywheel A, causing it to slow down a ...
1
vote
2answers
266 views

Spin angular momentum of a system of particles : Is there any energy associated with it?

Consider a system of point particles , where the mass of particle $i$ is $μ_i$ and its position vector is $\vec{r}_i$. Let $\vec{r}_\text{cm}$ is the position vector of the center of mass of the ...
6
votes
2answers
380 views

What is the highest energy position for a double pendulum? And for which energy positions is it chaotic?

Math/physics teachers love to break out the double pendulum as an example of chaotic motion that is very sensitive to initial conditions. I have some questions about specific properties: For a ...
8
votes
2answers
361 views

Shaking a jar of balls

A jar is filled with two types of balls, red and green. Red balls have radius $r_1$ and mass $m_1$, green balls have radius $r_2$ and mass $m_2$. If initially the balls are randomly placed throughout ...