A Question about the Problem of the Week at Harvard

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem from Harvard's Problem of the Week, specifically focusing on the collision dynamics between a basketball and a tennis ball. Participants explore the implications of momentum changes during elastic collisions and the resulting velocities of the objects involved.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their approach to solving the problem, calculating the change in momentum for both the basketball and tennis ball, and expressing confusion over the correctness of their solution.
  • Another participant questions the reasoning behind summing the change of momentum for the tennis ball, seeking clarification on its meaning.
  • A different participant suggests that the tennis ball should experience an impulse from both the basketball and the floor, implying that the momentum transfer is more complex than initially presented.
  • One participant presents a hypothetical scenario involving a car hitting a resting tennis ball, questioning whether full momentum transfer would occur and noting potential violations of energy conservation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the mechanics of momentum transfer during the collision, with no consensus reached on the validity of the initial calculations or the implications of impulse in the scenario.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not fully resolved the assumptions regarding momentum transfer and energy conservation in elastic collisions, and the discussion reflects varying interpretations of these concepts.

bubblewrap
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I found a set of question from Harvard here;
https://www.physics.harvard.edu/academics/undergrad/problems [URL repaired by a mentor]
I solved the Week 1 problem like this;
The basketball would fall to the floor, because the collision is elastic the velocity will change from -v to v (where v is \\sqrt{2gh}\. There for the change of momentum is \(2Mv\) (where M is the mass of the basketball).

The tennis ball therefore would have the sum of the change of momentum which would be
\2Mv+2mv\, and tennis ball's velocity would satisfy the equation
\2Mv+2mv=mv+m{v}'\ (when the tennis ball's velocity after collision is \-{v}'\)

According to this \{v}'\ should be \\frac{(2M+m)\sqrt{2gh}}{m}\
and further calculation tells me that h equals \(\frac{2M+m}{m})^{2}h\

If you take a look at the solution (on the right hand side) you would find out that this is wrong, what did I do wrong in solving this problem? Why can't the change of momentum be used?
 
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bubblewrap said:
The tennis ball therefore would have the sum of the change of momentum
Why?
And what does that even mean?
 
I thought that the tennis ball should receive the impulse of the basketball as well as the impulse of itself. What I mean is that when the basketball bounces off the floor it's momentum changes because it received an impulse from the floor and the tennis ball, which would bounce off the basketball and also have a change in momentum would receive an impulse from the basketball but because the basketball received an impulse as well, the tennis ball would (probably) get the sum of those two momentum.
 
If you hit a resting tennis ball with a car, do you expect the car to transfer its full momentum to the tennis ball (and therefore stop)?

That would also violate energy conservation, by the way.
 

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