Conference rusure::math

1948.0. "Slidding Weights in a Pinewood Car" by GLDOA::RBROWN (Bubble, bubble, toil and ....) Sat Feb 25 1995 22:13

    Well, its pinewood derby time, and I'm wondering about something. 
    Maybe you folks can ponder it and explain it's possibilities ...
    
    The car can be 5oz., maximum.  Now after the car is built, what would
    happen if I drilled a small hole, about the length of the car.  I want
    to put enough BB's in the car to bring the overall weight to 5oz.
    
    When the car is in the starting gate, the BB's will roll forward and
    the car is front heavy.  As the car begins to flatten out at the bottom
    of the ramp, and go into the straight-away, the BB's will move back,
    presumably (hopefully) to the center of the car.  I could put a small
    block in the hole to keep the BB's from rolling past the center of
    gravity.
    
    In this way, I have the initial weight giving me the most force down
    the track at the beginning.  Then I have the weight shift to the center,
    where it should be (All automatically mind you ... 8^) ).
    
    How can I explain this mathmathically, and does anyone have any thoughts
    on this matter ?

    Not to discourage any responses, but this sounds more like a PHYSICS
    question than a math question.
    
    Press SELECT to add the PHYSICS conference to your notebook.
    
      John

    Didn't know there was a PHYSICS conference.  I'll poke around over
    there.  Thanks !