Phun phor Physics Pholk
Paraphrased from whatever physics text UK is using:
There are two fellows playing hockey. Let's call them Ezekial and Japeth, for simplicity's sake (the text doesn't give them any names at all, which tends to make things a little more confusing). Ezekial is standing around with the puck between his feet, when Japeth swings by (at a steady 12 m/s) and takes it from him. After three seconds, Ezekial decides to give chase. He accelerates at a rate of four m/ss.
The text asks: How far does Ezekial travel before catching Japeth? How long does it take?
I ask: Why does Ezekial so generously give Japeth a 36 meter head start? Why, when Japeth observes that Ezekial has finally sprung into action, does he not accelerate in response? Knowing that hockey is strictly a team sport, where is everybody else? Why don't they get involved? Perhaps they are all busy yelling at Ezekial for letting Japeth steal the puck in the first place. Finally, what does Ezekial plan to do when he finally catches his opponent?
So many important questions -- so little time. :)
posted by Jeanine @ 1/24/2007 01:38:00 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
And I ask: How far is it to the end of the rink? For surely both Japeth and Ezekiel shall experience sudden massive deceleration when they reach that point, seriously affecting the answer to the original question.
Perhaps Ezekial's left skate is too tight, causing his attention to drift from the game momentarily. We can then assume that his rate of acceleration does not continue at a constant rate until he catches Japeth, thus nullifying the question.
Kleerly, UK presupposeth, as most exalted academics would, an infinite hockey rink, or that the two opponents assume orbital paths within the oval of frozen H2O (although it saith not that it be ice hockey, it be simply an assumption of those in the frigid North plains, as what else would one venture to play in January?)
True, you raise issues even I had overlooked. However, Jana, the Text (with which we may not argue) does state implicitly that Ezekial accelerates at a constant rate; whether or not his snug left skate causes him to accelerate at that constant rate while drifting off-center is an interesting problem.
Apparently, I should post more of these deep, philosophical essays -- they get such great response! :)
But just because the Text says he accelerates at a constant rate, can we really believe it? After all, the Text was wrong about Pluto....
I would assume that Ezekiel's plan is to try to get the puck back. But what are the chances that Japeth would still have the puck by the time Ezekiel caught him? The sensible thing would be for Japeth to either pass the puck off to his team-mates or take a shot on goal prior to the arrival of Ezekiel. Which would then lead Ezekiel to quit chasing him, again, nullifying the question. This was always the problem I had with physics.
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