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> Of course, before you started, you made some measurements like how far the
> car rolled straight given different starting heights. The strobe
> lights/cameras helped too.
I remember we often made a "frictionless ramp", where we had to set the
angle exactly to ensure a rolling ball stayed at constant speed. Then we
did some impact/energy/momentum stuff on the ramp.
I also remember in applied maths at school, working on the *theory* of
friction and sliding/rolling balls etc, until someone piped up and pointed
out that in theory this rolling ball would never stop on a flat surface :-)
It wasn't until University that we solved that one with deformation of the
surfaces and roughness. Actually that was one of my favourite courses, it is
surprising how complicated the wheel/road interactions are, and that exactly
the same theory of rubber tyres on tarmac applies to steel wheels on a steel
track.
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