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Cookie question: Military Physics


A friend returned from training for the air force and told me about some of the crazy things that he and his comrades would do to pass the time. Some of these included taping each other to the ceiling and human-drawn chariot races, but one of the most messy and fun instances he described was a hallway slip n' slide. True story: he and his hall mates put towels to the bottom of their sleeping quarter doorways, filled the hall with soap and water and proceeded to slide down the hallway as though it were a seabreeze water slide.

Let's say the hallway is 15 meters long, and each cadet gets a 8 meter running start before diving down for a slide. If one guy sprints and reaches a speed of 4 m/s before flopping into the suds (which has a coeff. of friction of .2), does the cadet slam into the other side of the hallway or get soapy bragging rights?

slip_n_slide.jpg

...In terms of the cookie question, Charlie: 2; entire rest of the class: 0. Come on, guys! (Nice job Charlie)

Good luck! --Alpha Geek

DISCLAIMER: It's unlikely that this exact situation with such distance in the slide will occur. The coefficient of friction with the floor and the speed of the person are strictly for cookie-question fun, not actual values. In other words, don't try this in your living room!

4 Comments


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FizziksGuy

Posted

Having "engaged" in similar activities back when I was young and foolish, the real question is what happened when they got caught.

And just for the record, trying to avoid the mess factor by having shopping cart ground-bungee drag races through hallways may result in ER visits and plaster. :einstein)

AlphaGeek

Posted

Soapy bragging rights!!!

Oh jeez, Charlie 3, class 0. Nice job! Two cookies tomorrow then, remind me in Physics :glee:

AlphaGeek

Posted

Having "engaged" in similar activities back when I was young and foolish, the real question is what happened when they got caught.

And just for the record, trying to avoid the mess factor by having shopping cart ground-bungee drag races through hallways may result in ER visits and plaster. :einstein)

Sounds like fun! I mean, of course I'll avoid trying that out... ;) Another instance did involve an ER visit. Something about a snowball fight getting out of hand, falling from a two story window and fracturing a pelvis. *shrug*. Kids these days.

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