Question

A ball rolls without slipping down a ramp has which type of equilibrium and why? You insert a music CD into a player and hit play is an example of which type of equilibrium and why?

Answer 1

A ball rolling without slipping down a ramp is an example of stable equilibrium. In stable equilibrium , a small perturbation leads to motion towards a low potential energy state and the particle never comes back. Clearly boll rolling down a ramp without slipping fits the criterion of stable equilibrium.

Inserting a cd player and clicking hit is an example of neutral equilibrium . In neutral equilibrium , when a particle is displaced from one state to other , the particles maintains it's same potential energy through and stops (due to friction). For instance , ball rolling without slipping on plain ground from one place toa another is an example of neutral nequilibrium.