Brain Teasers
Merry-Go-Round
Jeff and I were playing on the Merry-Go-Round at the local park. It was very large. We stood on opposite sides and spun the Merry-Go-Round counter-clockwise. I threw a ball to Jeff. From my perspective, did the ball go to Jeff, or did it go to the right of him or the left of him?
Answer
Since the Merry-Go-Round has moved while the ball is traveling to Jeff the ball will go to the right of him.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
This is a great science teaser about circular motion . I would like to add that if this experiment was done with a frictionless air puck , then the person who shot the puck toward Jeff could actually end up catching it on the opposite side if the speed of rotation and the speed of the puck were adjusted correctly .
you also need to take into account that the ball will have some velocity at right angles to the direction you've thrown it. in this case the circular velocity will also "throw" the ball at an angle to the right of the original path straight across the merry-go-round.
I agree with lanmat, but still a good science teaser. I love these types of problems.
maybe's going a tad over board there with your answers but an ok teaser i guess
i had to do this with my fingers lol. good teaser!!
I disagree. As the puzzle states, the ball was thrown, not rolled on the surface of the spinning merry-go-round. As such, it's spin would not affect the throw, which would go directly to the receiver.
I believe with all certainty that the ball will go to the left of him. When the ball is thrown, it has two vector components, one tangent to the circular motion due to the spin and one perpendicular due to the throw. This will result in the ball travelling diagonal to its intended path. If it is thrown fast enough, it will pretty much go in a straight path perpendicular to the circular motion. Either way, both situation end up witht he ball to the left of the receiver. Since the merry-go-around is traveling counter-clock wise, the person receiving the catch is now to the right of the path and and the ball goes to his left side. As an example, think if the thrower is at the 3 o'clock position and the receiver is at the 9 o'clock positon. After the ball is thrown, if they are moving counter-clockwise, they will be at 2 and 8 and the ball will be at the 9 position, to the left of the receiver.
This one is for fishmed. The spin has an effect on the path of the ball. Ever since the time of Newton, scientist have known that moving objects have inertia and thus will follow their path of motion in a straight line unless something stops it. Thus anything released from a spinning object will continue in a path tangent to the spin.
I stand corrected. Maybe I should have noted that it would "almost" go directly towards the receiver, as noted before, if it was thrown hard enough to overcome the spin of the thrower. Thanks for reminding me. Math class has been quite some time ago.
I totally agree with Curtis. At the exact moment that the ball leaves the hand of the thrower it is a direct line with the person to catch it.. but since the object is rotating counter clock wise, the ball with arrive to the left of the catcher
In defense of the given answer, I do believe 'something' intended "to the right of him" to be from the perspective of the thrower. Considering that the puzzle was written in first person as the thrower, the most likely interpretation would be that the ball appeared to veer to the right from their perspecetive.
This is also a great explanation of Coreolis force that shapes the Earth's weather (i.e. direction of hurricane rotation).
This is also a great explanation of Coreolis force that shapes the Earth's weather (i.e. direction of hurricane rotation).
d'oh, I meant Coriolis, not Coreolis!
yeah i got confused as well - i was convinced that the ball would go to the left of the receiver as the receiver is travelling to the right
Actually the ball would hit the circular operational cage that's in the center...
Not that type of merry-go-round... one that you spin by pushing on the outside... but as to whether right or left, the answer becomes the right as viewed by the thrower, but the left of the intended receiver.
you're strong enough to push a merry-go-round?
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