Newton showed that the motion of comets is controlled by gravitational attraction of gravity. Many comets move in elliptical orbit but if they are moving very fast they will perform a hyperbolic orbit. A student attempts to model the hyperbolic trajectory of a fast moving comet by using steel balls and a bar magnet. When the ball bearings move close to one pole of the magnet, its path is deviated by the magnetic field. Various diameters produce various angle of deviation. I have to design an experiment that will enable a student to determine the diameter of the ball bearing that produces the maximum angle of deviation. Can u help me plz :-)
The assumption here is that the force of attraction of the ball to the magnet is a function of diameter of the ball. Why don't you just roll the balls down a fixed path, and move the magnet's distance from the path the balls start on?
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