Physics Challenge for

Teachers and Students

Boris Korsunsky, Column Editor

Weston High School, Weston, MA 02493

korsunbo@post.harvard.edu

Solution to December 2013 Challenge

w Squaring the circle: Now in 3D!
Two identical cubes have mass m and side r each. The cubes

rest very close to each other on a large horizontal table as

shown. A uniform sphere of mass m and radius r is gently
placed on top of the cubes as shown. Once the sphere is
released, it begins to push the cubes apart and slide downward. The acceleration due to gravity is g. Find the speed
v of the sphere at the moment it hits the table. Express
your answer in terms of the given quantities and a numeric
coefficient with at least three significant figures. Neglect
friction between all surfaces.

Solution: Let us define the variables according to the

figure below: y is the height of the lowest point of the
cylinder above the surface and x is the distance traveled by one cube in the horizontal direction. There is
only one independent degree of freedom since x and y
are related through x2 + y2 = 1. Implicit differentiation
gives the relation between the speed of the cube and
the speed of the sphere,

xv
x 2v 2 (1 y 2 )v x2
v y = x v 2y = 2 x =
.
y
y
y2

1
1
mr = my + mv 2y + 2 mv x2 .
2
2
Contact between the sphere and the cubes will be maintained as long as the normal forces from the sphere on
the cubes are positive. This is equivalent to the acceleration of the cubes being positive.
The point of zero normal force is thus given by the
maximum of the squared cube speed as a function of
the sphere height, f (y) = v2x. At the height y0 given by
df /dy = 0, the sphere and cubes will lose contact. The
speed of the cube will thereafter remain constant while
the sphere will experience free fall with an initial speed
vy0 for a distance y0 and the final speed vy1 can be
determined.
Substituting the expression for v2y in the energy relation
and rearranging gives

1
(1 y 2 )v x2
m( r y ) = m +
+ mv x2 ,
2
2
y
so the squared cube speed is

f ( y ) = v x2 =

2(1 y ) y 2
.
1+ y2

Differentiating and setting the derivative equal to zero

leads to
df
(2 y 3 y 2 )(1 + y 2 ) 2(1 y ) y 3
=2
=0
dy
(1 + y 2 ) 2

2r 3 + 2 y 2 3 y 3 y 3 2 y 2 + 2 y 3 = 0

2 3 y y 3 = 0.

At the point of zero contact the height of the sphere is

given by the solution to the equation above

y0 =

2 1
,

where
Work in units in which g = r = 1. The energy of the
system is conserved, which leads to

The Physics Teacher Vol. 51, 2013

= 3 1+ 2 .
and the speed at this point is

1 y02
x
v y 0 = 0 vx 0 =
y0
y0
= 2(1 y0 )

2(1 y0 ) y02
1 + y02

1 + y0
.
1 + y02

From this point the sphere free falls the remaining distance y0 during the time t and from the relation

y0 = v y 0t +

t2
2

and the fall time is computed,

t = v y 0 + v 2y 0 + 2 y0 .
Now the final speed of the sphere is
vy1 = vy0 + t < 1.256.
The speed of the sphere just before it hits the surface
is thus

1.256 gr .
Numerical integration with MATLAB using initial conditions y(0) = 0.99999 and

dy
dt

=0
t=0

gives the final speed vy1 < 1.26, in agreement with the
calculation above. See figure below for the results of the
numerical integration (and extrapolation beyond the
point of zero contact).

(Contributed by Rickard Fors, Sdra Latins Gymnasium,

Stockholm, Sweden)
We also recognize the following contributors:
Don Easton (Lacombe, Alberta, Canada)
Fernando Ferreira (Universidade da Beira Interior,
Covilh, Portugal)
Art Hovey (Galvanized Jazz Band, Milford, CT)
Jos Ignacio iguez de la Torre (Universidad de
Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain)

The Physics Teacher Vol. 51, 2013

Jos Costa Leme (High School Lanheses, Viana do

Castelo, Portugal)
John Mallinckrodt (Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA)
Carl E. Mungan (U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis,
MD)
Thomas Olsen (Northern Virginia Community College,
VA)
Joseph Rizcallah (Sagesse High School, Ain Saadeh,
Lebanon)
Randall J. Scalise (Southern Methodist University, Dallas,
TX)
Robert Siddon (U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis,
MD)
Jason L. Smith (Richland Community College, Decatur,
IL)
Guidelines for contributors:
We ask that all solutions, preferably in Word format, be
submitted to the dedicated email address
challenges@aapt.org. Each message will receive an automatic acknowledgment.
The subject line of each message should be the same as
the name of the solution file (see the instructions below).
The deadline for submitting the solutions is the last day
of the corresponding month.
We can no longer guarantee that well publish every successful solvers name; each month, a representative selection of names will be published, both in print and on the
web.
If your name isfor instanceKathleen Sebelius, please
name the file Jan14Sebelius (do not include your first
initial) when submitting the January solution.
If you have a message for the Column Editor, you may
contact him at korsunbo@post.harvard.edu; however,
please do not send your solutions to this address.
As always, we look forward to your contributions and
hope that they will include not only solutions but also
your own Challenges that you wish to submit for the column.
Many thanks to all contributors and we hope to hear
from many more of you in the future!

Boris Korsunsky