Which is faster, rolling or sliding? Consider the two almost identical aluminum cylinders in the photograph at the left below. One rolls without sliding, while the other slides without friction (to a good approximation) on four tiny ball bearings mounted at one end of the cylinder.
Suppose that they are started simultaneously from rest at the top end of an inclined plane, one rolling down the incline and the other sliding without friction, as shown in the photograph at the right above.
As they race down the incline, what will happen?
Click here for Answer #11 after May 8, 2000.
