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Re: Humorous exam answers!



At 02:37 PM 10/9/02, Justin Parke you wrote:
Here is one from last year:

"A golf ball in a hole on the green has potential energy with respect to
the green which is negative. Under what circumstances, if any, would the
ball have negative kinetic energy?

ans: When it is under water"

I suppose that the negative (effective) mass term was the justification for
thinking that the natural propensity of a sunken golf ball is to bob up to
the surface. But if so, why do lake divers for lost balls ply a handsome
living?

Brian Whatcott
Altus OK Eureka!

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.