Rolling on an Incline: Will a Sphere Continue Pure Rolling?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sachin123
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Rolling Torque
AI Thread Summary
A sphere set to roll on a smooth inclined plane in an accelerating car raises questions about its motion. The discussion revolves around determining whether the sphere will continue to roll purely or slide due to the lack of friction. Initial calculations suggest that the sphere will not roll purely, but further analysis indicates that if it starts with a velocity and maintains zero linear acceleration, it will continue pure rolling. The key point is that the sphere's initial conditions dictate its motion, and without external friction, it can maintain its rolling state. Ultimately, the sphere will continue to roll purely as long as it begins with the correct initial conditions.
sachin123
Messages
117
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



A smooth inclined plane with inclination \theta is fixed in a car accelerating on a horizontal surface with a=gtan(\theta).A sphere is set pure rolling on this incline.
Will it continue pure rolling?


The Attempt at a Solution


My idea is to find the linear acceleration of the sphere using Newton's laws along the incline.

Then I find the angular acceleration equating Torque exerted by friction to the product of Moment of Inertia of the sphere and its angular acceleration.Knowing the angular acceleration,I find the linear acceleration by multiplying it with radius of the bob.
If the two accelerations are the same,then it is pure rolling.

Am I right?
When I did it this way,I found that it will not roll purely.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
As I understand, smooth means no friction? Not that it makes a difference, actually.
Have you drawn a free-body-diagram of the situation? You can make an accelerating system and give the sphere an acceleration oppiste of the one the system has (like, if you lay a ball in a bus and the bus accelerates, what you see inside the bus is the ball accelerating, but backwards).
Now, see if the sphere has any linear acceleration (in direction of the inclined plane). If it does, it will start to move either slower or faster than what it would be if it was 'pure rolling'. But if it has no acceleration, it will just keep on moving, pure rolling.
BTW, I got that it has no acceleration, and hence "yes, it will continue pure rolling.
Please write, if my explanation was confusing, and I'll draw the free-body-diagram.
 
Hey.I actually missed that part of 'smooth'.
So,the bigger question I get is,how will it roll at all,if there isn't any friction?
I did that free diagram part as you said,and got 0 acceleration(linear).
So isn't it just supposed to slide down the incline with constant velocity?
Thanks.
 
Where did I go wrong?
 
Well, the problem states, that the sphere is "set pure rolling", so the rolling is started by "you" and not the incline. So, say it starts with some velocity v, then it has an angular velocity v/r, and when its velocity doesn't change (the 0 acceleration), it must continue pure rolling.
 
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
Thread 'Variable mass system : water sprayed into a moving container'
Starting with the mass considerations #m(t)# is mass of water #M_{c}# mass of container and #M(t)# mass of total system $$M(t) = M_{C} + m(t)$$ $$\Rightarrow \frac{dM(t)}{dt} = \frac{dm(t)}{dt}$$ $$P_i = Mv + u \, dm$$ $$P_f = (M + dm)(v + dv)$$ $$\Delta P = M \, dv + (v - u) \, dm$$ $$F = \frac{dP}{dt} = M \frac{dv}{dt} + (v - u) \frac{dm}{dt}$$ $$F = u \frac{dm}{dt} = \rho A u^2$$ from conservation of momentum , the cannon recoils with the same force which it applies. $$\quad \frac{dm}{dt}...
Back
Top