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Motion of a sphere inside a cylinder?
A sphere rolls without slipping on the inside surface of a cylinder whose axis is vertical. Assuming no loss of energy due to friction, what is the motion in general? Does the sphere always fall downwards due to gravity, or is there a stable motion (presumably when the sphere is moving quickly) where it oscillates without moving downwards?
Steve's answer is convincing, but type "ball in cylinder" into yahoo. It seems to show the ball moving upwards in the cylinder
2 Answers
- ?Lv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
Q1. A spiral with increasing pitch.
Q2. Yes. There is no stable vertical component of motion, as the weight of the sphere always produces a moment (torque) about the sphere's point of contact with th cylinder. There is no opposing torque, so the the sphere will alway rolls downwards (accelerating due to the constant torque).
