Title

Trajectories of Rolling Marbles on Various Funnels

Authors

Lars Q. English, Dickinson College
A. Mareno

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2012

Department

Physics

Language

English

Publication Title

American Journal of Physics

Abstract

We investigate the trajectories of a small marble constrained to roll on frictionless surfaces, called funnels, of varying shapes. Actual coin funnels have a hyperbolic surface, and here we disprove the common claim that the orbits of the rolling marble or coin are the same as the Kepler orbits for planets revolving around the sun. In fact, it is straightforward to show that for no funnel surface can the Kepler orbits be recovered. Furthermore, we find that the types of trajectories that can arise depend heavily on the funnel shape.

Comments

This published version is made available on Dickinson Scholar with the permission of the publisher. For more information on the published version, visit AIP Publishing's Website.

© 2012 American Association of Physics Teachers

DOI

10.1119/1.4747481

Recommended Citation

English, Lars Q., and A. Mareno. "Trajectories of Rolling Marbles on Various Funnels." American Journal of Physics 80, no. 11 (2012): 996-1000.