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Unread 02-03-2006, 16:56
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David Brinza David Brinza is offline
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Re: Physics: ball launch using gravity

Joe:

Does your calculation of drop height consider the rotational kinetic energy of the ball? (If not, this would explain why you are coming up short.)

You may also be losing some energy due to flexure of those "hot wheels" tracks and perhaps some friction losses as well. So, you will need to drop the ball from a greater height to offset some of these loss factors. If you need the ball to go higher, you can increase the angle (with loss in distance traveled).
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