Aussie wrote on Mar 12
th, 2007 at 5:28am:
Hi All,
My apologies if I came across as a bombastic ass. The level of people's background knowledge varies so much ..........
I didn't take it that way.
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Quote:A question for Wanderer. What percentage of the stone's total kinetic energy is due to the rotation about its own axis compared with the KE due to linear motion? Also if it is possible to stop this rotation would that mean the stone would now fly faster and consequently further.
I see another can of worms opening here.
To cut a long story short
, I think it's possible that something up to 50% could go into the rotational motion, but in practice probably 30-40% is the practical 'upper bound'. That would need a grippy pouch and or irregular shaped stones (mine are all thickly twined woven pockets which
are very grippy). I suppose the closest school physics to hijack is a ball rolling down an inclined plane, where more linear velocity is available if it doesn't roll (I'm also imagining a non-spinning ball skipping off a table, which is bound to slow down if it has to start rolling) - but then ..... I can write down my arguments but it doesn't seem to me this is the place to put them. Actually almost nothing I have written above is for me unalterable 'truth' - it's my current belief about the thing!
The sling gives a lot to think about. But we all knew that
- and when it gets too frustrating to think about we can go out and smash things with it;D