Recent content by jim.nastics

Dave, You are correct, my third solution does not work. My fourth idea did not work either.

And I think I have the solution, need to think some more to decide if it is true for all cases...

Out of whack, It counts as one cut. Other than that, it is good a good answer. Thinking about the points you are using (centers of areas), they can be derived from the existing points using geometry. I don't think using geometry is "measuring". Here is another wrong solution I based on...

Micheal, You just gave me an idea for a third wrong solution. Dave, I think that you are on the right track, somehow. I do think that the only points that matter are the eight corners. The missing rectangle is surrounded by cake. There may not be much cake, but it is a finite...

I had asked some other questions during the process of trying to answer this. All angles are right angles. The planes of the sides of the missing rectangle are parallel to the planes of the sides of the cake. The cuts to make are vertical, but are not necessarily parallel to the sides of...

Warning: I do not know the answer to this one. If this will keep you up at night, do not read on. I was asked this in a job interview a long time ago. They did like my answers, even though they were "wrong". Still here? OK. You are presented with a rectangular cake. Somewhere at an...

A third set, what about cyan, yellow, and magenta?

Thanks, robb and nrged. I'll go read ahead in the book. I need to find out for myself if my intuition is correct. Thanks for providing guidance, and for not posting spoilers. I do agree that there must be a better way than starting with f=ma, especially if getting an answer means tossing out...

What you are describing is a tractrix, also known as a "pursuit curve". They are fun, in a hyperbolic sort of way. Look in the index of your textbook. That should get you in the right direction. Please come back and post your solution, or at least your attempt at one. Regards, Jim

No, I don't. Looking at the course syllabus, I will know about it in two weeks (after spring break). I am, of course, willing to read ahead. Since you are asking, I assume it would help me out. Oh, and my proposed integration in post 5? Looks like it would take forever to get moving...

I had a strange nightmare last night... It relates to this problem. I was in my car rolling down a hill, thinking about this problem (don’t know why the engine wasn’t running). I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the road, and ran into someone :bugeye: (I think it was my physics...

(edit: Reformatted using LaTex, now I know how to use yet another language...) Yes, that is the question. I am struggling with this, and decided to approach it differently. I keep coming up short needing t, so I decided to look at t, and consider a simpler model, the inclined plane. Let r be...

Hi Robb, After the coaster goes down the cosine shaped ramp, what is the exit velocity? Also, I typoed... Meant to enter: dv = sin(theta)d(theta) from 0 to pi/2 Regards, Rudy

Homework Statement The teacher screwed up and gave us a problem that he could not solve. I am trying to solve it for fun. A roller coaster has a cosine shape. The coaster starts at the top (0 pi) with near 0 velocity Friction is 0, and there is no air resistance. Homework Equations...