Superballs can be purchased in local toy stores. They are described as being highly elastic. For bounces on a wooden bench top, the coefficient of restitution, defined as the ratio of the velocity after collision to the velocity before collision, can be determined from the heights reached on successive rebounds. The value obtained is typically about e = 0.8.
The rod and bottle system (sometimes called the “wine butler”), shown in Fig. 1, is a common statics demonstration1 in the introductory level physics course. One is immediately attracted to it by the craftsmanship in wood. Thomas Carlyle wrote, “Two men I honour, and no third. The scholar and the craftsman.”2 This paper presents an analytic treatment of the system.
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