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Originally Posted by JoeXIII'007
Thanks again, and any ideas on how to get the ball just a wee bit higher would be really great.
-Joe
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This may be a bit late in your project and a bit too abstract to be useful, but..
Neglecting friction, the problem of finding the curve of steepest descent rate (which would maximize velocity at the bottom) is called the
brachistochrone problem. The solution is a cycloid curve.
The problem can be generalized using calculus of variations to include friction, rotational KE, etc.
The descending section of your Hot Wheels track appears to be very close to a cycloid.
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02-03-2006, 17:09
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