Re: wheels come off - speed doubles?

[Herbert H Gottlieb <herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM>]

On Mon, 20 May 2002 07:03:36 -0700 John Mallinckrodt
<ajmallinckro@CSUPOMONA.EDU> writes:
> On Mon, 20 May 2002, Jerry Hester wrote:
>
> > I once upon a time lived in the middle of Kansas.  A farm truck
> > overloaded with grain was traveling down the highway at no more
> than 20  mph when a wheel came off.  The wheel rolled a good quarter
mile
> through a field and practically destroyed my car sitting in my
driveway.

Explanation is simple.  The wheel came off near the top of a VERY STEEP
one-quarter mile hill and it gained speed as it lost some of its
gravitational potential energy  while rolling downhill.

Herb Gottlieb  from New York City
(Where wheels coming off trucks sometimes gain speed when
rolling down our hills in the Bronx))