Where Will the Ball Hit the Floor of the Railcart?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a railcart moving at a constant velocity with a ball attached to its ceiling. When the ball is dropped, the railcart begins to decelerate, and the question is to determine the horizontal distance the ball will travel before hitting the floor of the railcart. The parameters provided include initial velocity, height, deceleration rate, and gravitational acceleration.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the need to integrate the horizontal velocity to find displacement and the vertical displacement due to gravity. Questions arise regarding the initial position in integration and the implications of the railcart's deceleration on calculations.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on integrating the velocity functions and addressing the initial conditions. There is an ongoing exploration of how to correctly apply the equations of motion in this context, with some participants expressing confusion over the integration process and the role of initial conditions.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating the complexities of integrating functions in a decelerating system and questioning the assumptions about initial positions and frame transformations. There is a noted emphasis on understanding differences in displacement rather than absolute positions.

supercali
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[SOLVED] a question

a railcart moves along a railway at constant velocity [tex]v_0[/tex] with a ball attached to its ceiling. at t=0 the ball is drooped from the ceiling and at the same time the railcart breaks are pushed creating deceleration such that its velocity is:
[tex]v=v_0e^{ -pt}\hat{x}[/tex] .
h is the distance between the ceiling and the floor.
in which horizontal distance will the ball hit the floor of the railcart. given [tex]v_0[/tex]=70m/sec
h=180m p=0.0185 1/sec g=10m/sec^2
if you can help me understand this and solve it
thanks
 
Last edited:
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You will have to integrate the x velocity dt to get the horizontal displacement as a function of time. The vertical displacement is the usual (1/2)*g*t^2. Use that to find t when it hits the floor and put it into the x displacement.
 
clarifications

ok i understood
but when i integrate i have an [tex]x_0[/tex] is it zero or because the railcart is decelerating i need to find it.
and another question regarding the use of the well known equation [tex]x=v_0t+ \frac{at^2}{2}[/tex] since there is an acceleration shoulnt there be a different accelaration according to the galilean transformation in accelerated systems
 
ok i did as you told me and got after integrating [tex]\frac{v_0e^{-pt}}{-p}[/tex] and the answer wasnt right. i got -3386.25m fot the time 6sec
i think it has to do with the fact that i didnt calculate the [tex]x_0[/tex] how do i do that
 
Last edited:
supercali said:
ok i did as you told me and got after integrating [tex]\frac{v_0e^{-pt}}{-p}[/tex] and the answer wasnt right. i got -3386.25m fot the time 6sec
i think it has to do with the fact that i didnt calculate the [tex]x_0[/tex] how do i do that

Your problem is that you can't just plug t=6 into that. You have to put t=6 and t=0 and then subtract them. It's an indefinite integral.
 
supercali said:
ok i understood
but when i integrate i have an [tex]x_0[/tex] is it zero or because the railcart is decelerating i need to find it.
and another question regarding the use of the well known equation [tex]x=v_0t+ \frac{at^2}{2}[/tex] since there is an acceleration shoulnt there be a different accelaration according to the galilean transformation in accelerated systems

There is no 'x0' to find. The initial value of x doesn't matter. This is all about differences. And there is no need to change frames. You are doing fine solving the problem is this one.
 
**** i don't believe it i made that stupid mistake of not putting a zero in the integral

dude thak you very much
your the best
keep on helping it is the nicest thing ever
 

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