Recent content by DBirk

So you are suggesting that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. i.e. there are no forces acting on the train (or me on the pond), so I will keep right on moving with the earth. I can see that. Consider for a second coriolis acceleration. If you fire a projectile a long distance, the Earth...

Well, that's my confusion. If the Earth is a truly rotating reference frame, it moves with respect to a reference frame at rest. So, the Earth has imparted an initial speed of 1000 mph to the train with respect to the non-moving reference frame. But then the Earth no longer influences the train...

It begins at rest. Question is, will it ever begin to move, or will it remain at rest?

Homework Statement Will a maglev train beginning at rest slowly drift or accelerate due to the rotation of the earth? Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution The Earth is a rotating reference frame, with points on the equator moving at approximately 1000 miles per hour. If the maglev is...

I can only think of fluids as such, water and atmosphere. Those have different behaviors though. One man-made object that approaches frictionless would be a mag-lev train. Similar question, would a mag-lev be (slowly) induced into movement by coriolis or other rotational Earth force if it was...

Homework Statement Will a frictionless body placed on the Earth move, and if so, describe it's path and acceleration. Homework Equations I was given no equations, but I believe that coriolis and centripetal forces would act on the body.The Attempt at a Solution I assume that we have to assume...