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Old 03-05-2003, 11:04 AM   #44
Feynman
Feynman should edit this Edit
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For your suggested experiment to yield decent results, you should be able to take readings at least ten times faster than a typical "event" since you want to integrate, i.e sum up the real-time multiply of force for each time slice, by the duration value of each time slice.

If you touch a bundle for, say, 1/10th of a second, I suggest you take at least 100 force measurement per second.


Alternatively, try to perform your experiment with a medicine ball or some heavy object (20 lbs) and tell me how your scale behave.

Do [INTEGRAL f . dt ] / t over a complete cycle with whatever number of bundles you wish.

You'll need to estimate how long bundles remain in the air to evaluate the exact instantaneous force. (hint: can be computed from the height you throw them up)

Methink the average force has to even out to the total weight of all the bundles.

Otherwise, you could levitate an arbitrary weight with a limited force. A Chevette could carry 5000 tons of gravel if you'd rig it with a juggling mechanism (just don't drive it under a bridge ). Don't tell me that it does not exist all over the streets only because the DOT did not approve of the vehicle...

Physical laws applies at every end of the spectrum. Take a case, and within conceptual similitude limits, push it to the extreme and see if the hypothesis still holds.


But you were right about letting me cross the bridge: it also depends on how much *I* weight.

You're just a too clever boy ! Dayum!

Forgetting what we've learned is not a sin, it's the way of Nature.

Knowledge: use it or loose it.
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