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by RHSeeger 490 days ago
> Good one, chap! How about you argue with substance instead ...

Considering they were replying to a post that was, effectively, arguing "nuh uh!", their response seems reasonable.

> Explain, what makes the ball suddenly start rolling down the dome?

That's _literally_ the entire point. Nothing does. There is nothing that causes the ball to start rolling. But the Newtonian laws of physics indicate it will.

2 comments

> But the Newtonian laws of physics indicate it will.

Pedantically: they indicate it can. The situation where the ball spontaneously starts rolling[1] at any specific moment in time, without any application of force or interaction with any other part of the system, are perfectly legal and well-defined by the laws of motion. They just can't be predicted determinically.

[1] FWIW it's not even a ball in this case, as the rotational mechanics of a sphere with non-zero moment of inertia would destroy the very carefully constructed function required for the potential energy field.

Nitpick: Indicate it can. Not that it will.