Recent content by Bob Smith

Similar to what Ruud suggested, I would either model the wheel as a separate mass in the system, or just assume the wheel will always be in the resting position each frame, between the two springs (i.e. use combined stiffness to work out overall deflection, then use the individual stiffnesses to...

So this is my current problem: I have block of solid material that separates two bodies of gas. The temperature of all three is known (and presumably all different). The solid material is also being heated, equally throughout its volume. I want to know the instantaneous heat transfer...

OK, I understand those issues now. Let's think of my engine as a fan, so it is the air being expelled from the engine that is creating the force, and here I see is where my work is being done (movement of air, in this example). I'm still unsure how I get from here to calculate my work done...

Ah yes, I'm thinking as if the plank was connected to the cylinders as if they were axles, in the situation described the plank would eventually roll off the top of the cylinders as they would only be traveling half as fast? Actually I've also assumed that the cylinders are on the ground, but...

OK. I understand the energy imparted to an object it might be attached would be zero, but it is the total energy that I am interested in. As far as I'm concerned, the engine could be bolted to the floor, and given a finite energy supply, the energy will, at some point, be depleted. How do I find...

Suppose I have an engine of some kind that, for the purposes of simplification, creates a constant force regardless of conditions. First, am I correct to assume that the rate of energy fed into this engine will also be constant? Second, if I know what this constant force is, can I work out...

So by saying no slipping, the cylinders must begin to roll as the plank is pulled? If I'm right here, you need to consider the system as a whole. That means in f=ma, you need to be using the total translational inertia of the system, rather than just the component masses. So of course the...

Well, thought I should add I got my solution by using matrices for the simultaneous differential equations. Cheers anyway. :)

I should have been a bit more specific in my post. I can form the two equations and the derivative equation for the constraints. The angle is also at the same point as one of the points the curve must fit, and sine the angle is zero (top of the curve), it is the same as the gradient, so no...

This should be easy but I've not done this in years and I'm feeling dense: I need to fit a quadratic curve to three constraints, two of which are points, the third is an angle. I've found examples to do this but only if all three constraints are points, so if someone would kindly explain...

Hi Andy Nice to see another student doing a car simulation for University. I'm curious as to what aspect you are looking at with your project? I've just added lateral calculations to by project, I came across this thread while googling for the formula. A bit late now after a month and was...

Ahh excellent thanks, got it working now. :smile:

I'll be honest, I don't understand most of what's going on in this forum, so forgive me if this isn't the right place. I'm trying to extrapolate a quadratic curve between two points (my x values). These are known, as are the corresponding y values and the y' (or dy/dx if you prefer) values...

Is there a lower limit to star size? If so, what?

Cheers for your reply. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to bother. I know it's quite a lot to look over, so is a lot to ask really, but seemed easier than lots of separate threads getting each detail right. I'm more concerned about getting the spreadsheet to work reasonably...