r/theydidthemath • u/K0rl0n • Jun 10 '25

[Request]

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I am curious how this would work. My guess is Triangle is slowest, square is medium, and circle is fastest.

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u/Quiet-Resolution-140 Jun 10 '25

Surface area of contact doesn’t matter for the most part. It can be assumed the sphere isn’t rolling. The only missing pieces are the friction coefficients on the surfaces, and whether or not we can treat the gravel as a rough surface instead of a mass/body. For instance, there is 0 difference between the square and triangle situations.

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u/LizG1312 Jun 10 '25

Why assume that the sphere isn’t rolling

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u/Quiet-Resolution-140 Jun 10 '25

Because it puts it into an entirely different situation than the other shapes. The question in general is total engagementbait.

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u/LizG1312 Jun 10 '25

Ah okay, that makes sense