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Re: [Phys-l] ball floating in elevator



I don't think "analogy" is the correct term, as the cases are quite dissimilar (compressible and in compressible fluids).

bc

On 2009, Apr 21, , at 06:05, curtis osterhoudt wrote:

A possibly better analogy is the case of a helium balloon in a car, and watching which way it "moves" when the car accelerates or decelerates. In that case, the compressibility of the surrounding fluid (air) allows for large enough density gradients that the buoyancy forces have a net horizontal component. In the ball-in- water video, we're dealing with a virtually incompressible fluid, and a large-mass ball.