2007/09/02 by David W. Hogg, Hogg, David W.
Engineering · #FOS: Physical sciences #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph) #Sports Dynamics and Biomechanics #Transportation Safety and Impact Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0709.0107
openalex publication_date 2007/09/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
I discuss an apparently simple ballistics problem: the time it takes an object to fall a small vertical distance near the surface of the Earth. It turns out to be not so simple; I spend a great deal of time on the quantitative assessment of the assumptions involved, especially with regards to the influence of the air. The point is not to solve the problem; indeed I don't even end up solving the problem exactly. I introduce dimensional analysis to perform all of the calculations approximately. The principal theme of the lecture is that real physics can be very different from ``textbook'' physics, since in the real world you aren't ever told what equations are appropriate, or why.