Cycloid Experiment for freshmen physics labs
arXiv:1702.06597 · doi:10.3906/fiz-1711-5
Abstract
We establish an instructive experiment to investigate the minimum time curve traveled by a small billiard ball rolling in a grooved track under gravity. Our intention is to popularize the concept of \textit{minimum time curve} anew, and to propose it as a feasible physics experiment both for freshmen and sophomore classes. We observed that even the non-physics major students did enjoy such a cycloid experiment.
4 pages 3 figures