- #1
Howard Nye
- 12
- 0
Hi there,
I'm deeply ignorant about physics, but I'm curious about what conserved quantities (if any) are transferred from a section of railroad track to a train that's rolling along the track. I take it that in many situations if the track were absent, the gravitational attraction between the Earth and the train would mire the train in the ground below or otherwise stop the train before it could reach locations that it would have reached if it had been rolling along the section of track. Does this mean that the track plays an important role in keeping the train on course by transferring linear momentum to the train and cancelling out the force of gravity? Also, from what I understand the surface on which a wheel is rolling exerts torque on the wheel. Does this mean that the track transfers angular momentum to the wheels of the train? Would the track transfer energy to the train?
I very much hope that this question makes sense. I'd deeply appreciate any help you could give me with it.
Thank you so much,
Howard
I'm deeply ignorant about physics, but I'm curious about what conserved quantities (if any) are transferred from a section of railroad track to a train that's rolling along the track. I take it that in many situations if the track were absent, the gravitational attraction between the Earth and the train would mire the train in the ground below or otherwise stop the train before it could reach locations that it would have reached if it had been rolling along the section of track. Does this mean that the track plays an important role in keeping the train on course by transferring linear momentum to the train and cancelling out the force of gravity? Also, from what I understand the surface on which a wheel is rolling exerts torque on the wheel. Does this mean that the track transfers angular momentum to the wheels of the train? Would the track transfer energy to the train?
I very much hope that this question makes sense. I'd deeply appreciate any help you could give me with it.
Thank you so much,
Howard