A spherical object is moving vertically down through a medium, such as air
or water. Its potential energy decreases. Initially a large fraction of PE
is converted into KE but but eventually this conversion process stops (at
the macroscopic level) and PE is converted into Q. The law of conservation
of energy would not be violated if a fraction of the translational KE were
converted into rotational energy. But that macroscopic conversion does not
happen (?). A "degree of freedom" is available but the energy does not go
into it. Why? Which law is responsible for this?
These questions are connected (in my mind) with what should happen to a
horizontally launched projectile.
Ludwik Kowalski