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kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
Wow, didn't really think I'd find a need to post this again, but from another thread where people were arguing which would survive a fall better between an iPod Nano vs. Classic and MacBook Air vs. regular MacBook....
Oh--and as for the iPod Nano vs. Classic and the MacBook Air vs. MacBook drop....

Yes, they will fall at the same rate. It doesn't matter which is heavier for that. However, the OP is right that the lighter product will hit the ground with less force. It's called impulse, and it's the change in momentum of an object resulting from integrating an amount of force F exerted during a given time t. That is, [delta]mv = int(F*tdt). Both objects will obviously hit the ground in the same amount of time t if we're talking about impacting on the same surface, and both objects will hit with the same velocity v, so in each case the object's mass is proportional to the force involved in the impact.

Bottom line: the MacBook Air has about 40% less mass than the ordinary MacBook, so it will be subjected to about 40% less force. Remember that in figuring out how the drop will effect the hardware.
 

kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
momentum != velocity

momentum = mass*velocity

:D

and F = dp/dt

where F is force and p is momention and t is time. The heavier object is always subject to more force, unless you chance the time the impact takes. There is also my (incredibly nerdy) elaboration above...
 

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
May 7, 2004
15,678
5,511
Sod off
I just knew this would turn into a physics lesson. :eek:

Anyway, the next update of the MacBook Pro should include retro rockets to slow the rate of descent in the event of a drop.:D
 

blairwillis

macrumors regular
Jul 24, 2005
203
4
If a MacBook Air, falling in a vacuum, was traveling at the speed of light, how fast would the light being emitted from the display be traveling?
 

kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
If a MacBook Air, falling in a vacuum, was traveling at the speed of light, how fast would the light being emitted from the display be traveling?

It's impossible for anything to travel at the speed of light, besides photons and a few other elementary particles. However, if you were to ask if the MacBook Air were travelling, say, 99.9999% the speed of light, I could answer your question.

(BTW, everyone, it's kind of a trick question...no matter how fast the MacBook Air is traveling, the light from it will still be traveling at the speed of light in both the MacBook Air's frame of reference, and in the frame of reference of its highly confused user who's sitting on earth wondering where his $1799 laptop went.)
 

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Jul 17, 2005
19,170
4,166
5045 feet above sea level
ok heres a riddle for ya kinda. see if you can figure it out. im pretty sure of the answer


so the theory of relativity says that if you are in a space ship you will age a lot slower than say your friends on earth. well how come your friends on earth wont age slower than you on a spaceship if we just change the point of reference????
 

Scott6666

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2008
1,513
982
Yes, you are right

I concede that you all are right that momentum != velocity. I appreciate the physics refresher!

I see now the errors of my ways and that the force necessary to "stop" the air as it hits the floor should be less that that required to "stop" a heavier machine.

Less force, less damage (given equally "strong" laptops that I would not necessarily know how to quantify).

Hope I have this right this time. Still it did start an interesting thread.
 

thesdx

macrumors 6502a
Jul 12, 2007
673
2
I thought Galileo solved this question a while back. A macbook air should drop at the same rate as any other Apple (or non-Apple for that matter) notebook.

:eek:

[In a 4 foot drop air resistance will not be much of a factor]

All objects fall at the same rate, but lighter objects always allow more air resistance, causing the air (not the MBA, but "air") to act as a force against the object. So, the MBA would go down more slowly than a MBP. Like you said, from a 4 ft drop, this isn't really going to make much of a difference. It could just be pure luck that the MBA didn't get totaled. It all depends on how it lands.
 

jrtaylor6

macrumors member
Jan 20, 2011
43
0
Tuscaloosa Al
4ft drop

When they pick up the MacBook Air did anybody see it before they took it to the back.. If no how do we not know that they just put a new one out on display..
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say it wont hold up to the fall I hope it does because I own one..
 

b-rad g

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2010
895
1
When they pick up the MacBook Air did anybody see it before they took it to the back.. If no how do we not know that they just put a new one out on display..
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say it wont hold up to the fall I hope it does because I own one..

I'm guessing you didn't even look at the post dates before posting! Am I right?;)
 

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,141
1,384
Silicon Valley
I thought Galileo solved this question a while back. A macbook air should drop at the same rate as any other Apple (or non-Apple for that matter) notebook.

In a uniform gravitational field, potential energy is height times weight. At the end of the fall, all that potential energy gets converted in kinetic energy (Physics 101). A heavier object will need to dissipate proportionally more kinetic energy into deformation during the crash into the floor, even at exactly the same speed.
 
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