Why can a floating ball not keep moving at the same speed when slightly touched. What is the quantatively explaination for this?
It is a hard point to compare a floating ball with a ball on a
ground. Even if the ball is floating in the water, some part of the
ball is still submerged under water. This area which is in contact
with water experiences a frictional force, which restricts the
motion of the ball. This friction neither allows the ball to slide
over the water surface nor allows the ball to rotate and move
forward without sliding.
In case of a ground, a ball when pushed, does not slide over the
surface of the ground, but rotates and moves linearly because the
frictional force acts a very small area of the ball in contact with
ground, and helps it to pivot or rotate. This is simply not
possible when in water because the ffrictional force acts along a
larger area.
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