• JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org
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        14 hours ago

        A bowling ball imparted with the momentum from a slingshot won’t even have the energy to stay air-borne.

        The marble imparted with the momentum from a slingshot will fracture or even penetrate your skull.

        Momentum is m*v. However, kinetic energy is (1/2)m*v^2, where the velocity is providing exponentially more to the equation.

    • This is what I assumed. Assuming its non-injurious, the marble will sting a lot more, on the other hand, I’d be under a bowling ball (or holding it.)

      If its at a significantly injurious amount of momentum, there is no right answer.

      • xavier666@lemm.ee
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        18 hours ago

        I’m not a Physicist but since they have the same momentum, the marble will have a higher velocity. Let us assume the bowling ball weighs 6000 gm and the marble weighs 20 gm (average weight), the velocity ratio of the marble to bowling ball is 300:1 (300 times faster).

        If we assume that both of them are made of the same material, and you throw the bowling ball at 1 m/s, then the marble is launched at nearly Mach 1. I’m pretty sure it will create a neat hole in the bowling ball.

        I could be very wrong as well.

            • udon@lemmy.world
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              20 hours ago

              Let me put this differently:

              You’re standing at a lever that can influence the direction of the shrapnel. If you do nothing, 5 people will get hit with bowling ball shrapnel and 1 person with marble shrapnel. If you pull the lever, 5 people will get hit with marble shrapnel and 1 person with bowling ball shrapnel.

              What do you do?