Re: A Parents' Day gem

[Robert Mathieson <rmathieson@culver.edu>]

>    "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."
>    A pause.  Then:
>    "This is witchcraft!" the parent hollered.  "WITCHCRAFT!!!"  And he turned 
> and stormed out of the classroom.

I've done the experiment with a gun--sort of--to convince a companion.
Pellet rifle shot over a calm lake, another pellet dropped vertically.  The
splashes were, at least, very close in time.  Of course, we had no way to
accurately level the gun;  I tried to hold it level but suspect I
unconciously changed the angle until I got good results.

I did mention things like curvature and so on to my friend.  He did not
follow all of that but did decide that his original assumption that a large
forward speed would cause a much larger flight-time was not correct.

Robert Mathieson
Culver-Stockton College
Canton, MO 63435
(217)233-6000
rmathieson@culver.edu