a solid ball and a cylinder roll down an inclined plane. which reaches the bottom first?

A. The ball reaches the bottom first.
B. The cylinder reaches the bottom first
C. They arrive at the bottom at the same time
D. It depends on the incline of the slope
E. It depends which of the two has the larger diameter

6 answers

Would it be the cylinder
If they have the same mass and diameter, the cylinder would have a greater moment of inertia and therefore a greater kinetic energy at the same linear velocity. It would therefore be slower than the ball if the both go down the same distance. Of course if the diameters are different all bets are off.
Think total Ke = (1/2) m v^2 + (1/2) I omega^2
v = omega * R
If they have the same mass then that total Ke is the same mgh at the bottom, but if I is bigger for one of them, v is smaller
The basic thing to remember here is that if the thing has to spin to roll down, there has to be a torque provided by friction pushing up the slope on the bottom of the rolling object and therefore slowing its descent down the slope.
So it wouldn't be a., b., c.,or e. Is it d
So is it
I'm still not sure