Basketball and tennis ball: Part II

Classical Mechanics Level pending

Now consider n balls, B 1 , , B n B_{1}, \cdots , B_{n} having masses m 1 , m 2 , , m n m_{1}, m_{2}, \cdots , m_{n} (with m 1 > > m 2 > > > > m n m_{1} >>m_{2}>> \cdots >> m_{n} ) , sitting in a vertical stack. The bottom of B 1 B_{1} is a height h above the ground, and the bottom of B n B_{n} is a height h + l h + l above the ground. The balls are dropped. In terms of n, to what height does the top ball bounce?

Note: Work in the approximation where m 1 m_{1} is much larger than m 2 m_{2} , which is much larger than m 3 m_{3} , etc., and assume that the balls bounce elastically. If h = 1 h = 1 meter, what is the minimum number of balls needed for the top one to bounce to a height of at least 1 kilometer? To reach escape velocity? Assume that the balls still bounce elastically (which is a bit absurd here). Ignore wind resistance, etc., and assume that l is negligible.


The answer is 12.

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