3 ms·
In the curved-tube image, clearly the ball will exit with a clockwise spinning, because it'll be rolling on the external wall of the tube (based on the "Newtoni
by lucio 12y ago
In the curved-tube image, clearly the ball will exit with a clockwise spinning, because it'll be rolling on the external wall of the tube (based on the "Newtonian principle" of inertia). I'll bet if you try it as a experiment (inside the atmosphere) the ball will follow "C"... Am I a confident idiot?
- spain 12y agoI was actually thinking the same, shame there wasn't an answer in the article.
- lucio 12y agoThe "right" (too simplistic) answer in the article is "B". "One group knew the right Newtonian principle: that the ball would continue in the direction it was going the instant it left the tube—Path B. Freed of the tube’s constraint, it would just go straight."
- Ono-Sendai 12y agoThis is why science works well - it can tell us what the actual answer is, not just the one that is 'obviously right'.
- bryanlarsen 12y agoThat's a standard fallacy I often run into: over estimating second order effects. Yes, unless the ball is perfectly smooth or in a vacuum you will get slight curvature. But it would be so slight that it would look like B.
- iconjack 12y agoTry it with a ping-pong ball (a natural choice). The curvature coming out of the tube will not be slight.
- bryanlarsen 12y agoNone of the three choices in the diagram are curved, though.