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Re: [Phys-l] Collision of irregular bodies



At 09:23 AM 8/12/2006, R McDermott, you wrote:

///
>>Agreed. Now how about for a single point of contact? Can the mass
>>distribution, etc affect the direction of force...?
>
> Yes. Would you care for imaginary examples?

Yes, please. I'm having difficulty seeing how that (forces NOT normal to
the surfaces, and in the absence of tangential forces) could happen.


Hmmm. This requirement is a little too restrictive for me.

If two bodies collide at a point, AND
if there are no side forces at that point,
THEN
there are only normal forces at that point of contact.
(That was the point to which you took exception I think.)

I wanted to describe, for example, two rigid beams moving
freely in space, each rotating and each
provided with hard round balls, one at each end of each beam.
You can imagine several varieties of interesting results of
contra-rotation, and oblique touching at the end balls.
Specifically, the osculatory plane can have a variety of
orientations, and with the variability of the imaginary centers
of mass of these objects, the normal force of contact
could provide linear or angular acceleration of each object.



Brian Whatcott Altus OK Eureka!