At the grocery store you pick up a can of beef broth and a can of chunky beef stew. The cans are identical in diameter and weight. Rolling both of them down the aisle with the same initial speed, you notice that the can of chunky stew rolls much farther than the can of broth. Why?
2007-02-23 12:33:27 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The chunky stew is almost solid and remains in place, not moving relative to the inside surface of the can. The broth is a liquid and does move relative to the inside surface of the can resulting in a very small friction force. This frictional force would slow the can and prevent it from rolling as far as the other.
2007-02-23 12:38:50 · answer #1 · answered by MrWiz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as it rolls the chunky parts of the stew go towards the side of the can while the can of broth remains the same througout; as a result the can of stew has a greater moment of inertia which is why it will roll farther even both were given the same velocity
2007-02-23 20:39:34 · answer #2 · answered by jav_7792 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Possibly a 'flywheel' effect caused by the different distribution of weight of the chunky contents versus the more evenly distributed weight of the broth.
2007-02-23 20:39:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋