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Weekend


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March 25, 2005

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. From a Baltimore reader: "I've wondered about this since high school. If I were to drop a ‘superball' type hi-bounce ball from the 1250-foot height of the Empire State Building, what would happen? Would it bounce super high? Shatter? I can't try this, but I'd love to know."

    A. You can save yourself, oh, about 100 floors ascent because the small lightweight ball would rapidly come into balance between gravity accelerating it downward and air friction retarding its fall, says University of Washington professor of mechanical engineering Colin H. Daly.


     
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