[net.physics] Defenestration of 105 lb. rubber ball from 7th floor

ron@brl-vgr.UUCP (05/29/84)

We experimented in rubber band ball bouncing at the University of
Maryland using one that was about seven inches in diameter.  We dropped
it from the five stories through the middle of a stairwell.  I waited
on the forth floor to recover it on the rebound.  It comes nearly all the
way back to it's starting point and remarkably bounced pretty straight.
Subsequent attempts with multiple bouncing sent it wildly around the stairs
making a lot of noise.

-Ron

jaw@ames-lm.UUCP (James A. Woods) (06/06/84)

#  Problems worthy of attack,
   Prove their worth by hitting back.  -- Piet Hein

     Last weekend I became the proud possessor of a most unusual
objet d'art.  After succumbing to the spirit of an annual street fair
in my neighborhood, I rolled home my purchase -- a 105 lb. sphere made
out of industrial-strength rubber bands!

     It was constructed during two years of spare time by an unemployed
janitor named Rene Viegas.  He explained that his children were tired
of their strange toy, and besides, he needed the bucks ($45).

     The enormity of this achievement is still sinking in, and
I intend to submit word of his accomplishment to the Guinness Book.
It is approximately 20 inches in diameter (beachball sized),
and looks like the insides of a larger-than-life golfball.

     Anyway, the thing actually bounces, and since my window is about
75ft. above street level, I'm wondering (physics freaks take note),
how high it would bounce if defenestrated, and what sort of damage it
might cause after the second bounce.  I understand that nonlinearities
within the mass might make this hard to predict.

     For you left-brained analytics, suggestions as to its use
are welcome.  It has already impressed me as a handy conversation piece
and a not-too-uncomfortable chair.

	-- James A. Woods  {dual,hplabs,hao,research}!ames-lm!jaw

P.S.
     Legen Sie Ihr Geld in Dada an!  (Invest in dada.)