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Re: A Parents' Day gem



Of course, it is worth noting that a bullet fired horizontally will *not*
generally, take the same time to fall to the ground as one that is dropped
from the same height and that any mathematical "proof" to the contrary is,
therefore, simply irrelevant. This is not to suggest that I side with the
parent in this dispute, but maybe there is room for both parties to learn
something about the relationship of models of reality to reality itself.

John

On Mon, 27 Oct 1997, nguilber wrote:

... "Well," the parent charged, "my son had an assignment recently where YOU
were teaching that a bullet FIRED from a level gun and a bullet DROPPED from
the gun when the shot was fired will both hit the ground at the SAME TIME!"
"It is not I who teaches that," the teacher responded. "The laws of
physics teach you that."
"That's LUDICROUS!" said the parent. "ANY fool can see that the forward
momentum of the SHOT bullet will make it spend LONGER in the air that the
DROPPED bullet!"
"I can prove it to you mathematically if you wish," replied the teacher,
"but they will, in fact, hit the ground at the same time."

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