A small ball starts sliding down a hemispherical surface. At what angle θ (in degrees) will the ball lose contact with the surface on its way down?
All surfaces are frictionless.
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Let at a height h from the top the ball loses contact. It can be shown then that l = r ( 1 − cos θ ) where r is the radius of the hemisphere.
The weight m g acting downwards has a component m g cos θ radially responsible for the centripetal force,
m g cos θ = r m v 2 v = r g cos θ
Since energy remains conserved as no external force acts on the system,
E t o p m g r g r g r g r h = E h = m g h + 2 1 m v 2 = g h + 2 1 v 2 = g h + 2 r g cos θ = g h + 2 g h = 3 2 r
where we know that r cos θ = h .
So the required angle is θ = cos − 1 ( r h ) = cos − 1 ( 3 2 ) ≈ 4 8 . 1 8 ∘
I would like to propose a harder version of this : What if the ball would have been rolling,not simply sliding ; then what would be the angle and the height ? ( 1 0 / 1 7 ? )
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P+N=ma ( m is the masse of the little ball A, a is the acceleration )
Ox:
N-Px = -max;
N-Px= -m ( v^2 ÷ R );
Cos y= Px÷mg (y is the angle at wich A will get seperated from B)
Px=mg cosy;
N - mgcosy = -m( v^2 ÷ R)
From the law of conservation of the mechanical energy :
Emi = Emf;
0 = (1÷2)m( Vf^2) -mgh
Let's find h :
h= R-OH , cosy= OH ÷ R;
h=R-Rcosy = R(1-cosy);
(1÷2)m Vf^2 = mgR(1-cosy); m different from 0;
Vf^2 = 2gR(1-cosy);
N-mgcosy = -(m÷R)2gR(1-cosy);
N= mgcosy -2mg +2mgcosy;
3mgcosy = 2mg;
3cosy=2;
Cosy = 2÷3;
Y=48.18