Recent content by nbsmith

I want to clarify what you're saying with a different example. Let's imagine a ball in space (with no other outside forces acting on it). In the top picture of the diagram, it's easy to see that the ball would accelerate at 2 m/s2. If we take that same ball and wrap a string around it a few...

But that 2 N force is acting on the edge, so that force will result in some translational acceleration, and some angular acceleration. If all of the force were acting at the CM, the ball's acceleration would be 4 m/s2, but since it's not, the translational acceleration will be less than 4, and...

It isn't clear to me how this problem can be approached without using rotational dynamics. The friction on the ball exerts a torque which causes the ball to roll relative to the cart. This would affect the ball's motion relative to the ground. I did this problem using rotational dynamics and...

I was using a ferromagnetic metal toroid, but it wasn't soft iron. Would the magnetic field travel around that without much degradation?

I want to build a simple induction apparatus like the one displayed at this web page: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/faraday/" My first attempt didn't work, and I'm trying to troubleshoot it. I am wondering how much magnetic field degradation there is around the toroid. As the...

I know that the iron core of a solenoid will result in a higher magnetic field than a hollow core when a current is running through it. I'm wondering if the reverse is true. Will an iron core result in a larger current when the solenoid is exposed to a changing magnetic field? I want to...

When a capacitor is hooked up to a battery, why does more charge accumulate on the plates of a capacitor when a dielectric is inserted? I've read a lot of mathematical answers to this question (based on C = Q/V), but I'd like a more causal explanation of what's really happening. Here's my...