Re: why pseudowork (NOT)

[Ludwik Kowalski <KowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

John Mallinckrodt wrote:

> Ludwik and Rick,
>
> You still seem to be misreading the question and/or getting hung up in
> some way. There is absolutely no need to invoke exotic mechanisms in
> order to arrange for simple everyday inelastic collisions like the one I
> described. They happen all the time and they happen all by themselves.

OK,  how would you accomplish this "trick" with an air track?
I give you the 1 kg glider and the 2 kg glider. Also devices to
impose initial speeds of 1 m/s on each glider. They move
toward each other. The task is to make sure the 2 kg is at rest
after the collision. We know the tricks for producing inelastic
collisions (velcro, sp?), we know the tricks for elastic collisions
(good springs). What is your "trick" to stop the 2 kg mass and
to conserve the linear momentum?

I know that this would not happen "all by itself", as you claim.
Be as specific as possible about the "ingenuity of arranging elastic,
superelastic (delta K >0), and totally inelastic collisions". Assume
you are giving instructions to your lab assistant. Somebody on
our list will perhaps follow the instruction and report on actual
results. Don't we always say that experiments consist ultimate
validation of our claims in physics?
Ludwik Kowalski