All Questions
Tagged with brachistochrone-problem classical-mechanics
3
questions
10
votes
1
answer
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Brachistochrone Problem for Inhomogeneous Potential
This recent question about holes dug through the Earth led me to wonder: if I wanted to dig out a tube from the north pole to the equator and build a water slide in it, which shape would be the ...
- 53.2k
7
votes
1
answer
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What shape of track minimizes the time a ball takes between start and stop points of equal height?
I was at my son's high school "open house" and the physics teacher did a demo with two curtain rail tracks and two ball bearings. One track was straight and on a slight slope. The beginning and end ...
5
votes
1
answer
426
views
Could two concatenated cycloids be an optimal solution to the Brachistochrone problem?
The following is a specific instance of the brachistochrone
problem, which I first encountered in grad school, and I
have occasionally used as hw problem in teaching CM.
A particle is started from ...
- 18.8k