Why does a cone roll uphill

Rather, transformation from one form to another is always allowed. By looking at the motion of the entire double cone, it is quite natural to think that it is creating energy by itself. At the same time we cannot accept this violation of energy conservation. Under such circumstances, we need to pay attention not to the entire object, but to the centre of mass of the system.

It is an imaginary point where the entire mass of the object appears to be concentrated. A double cone can be imagined to be made of two solid cones of same dimension by joining their bases.

The centre of mass of it lies on the midpoint of the line joining the centre of masses of the individual cones. If we measure the heights of the centre of mass of the double cone when it is kept at the lower end of the V shaped inclined rails and when it reaches the higher end of the rails, we see that the height of centre of mass decreases as it moves along the rails.

In seemingly upward direction. That means, it is actually losing potential energy along journey and it is the loss in potential energy which gets transformed into the kinetic energy of the double cone.

The V shape allows the centre of mass of the double cone to fall downwards as the double cone ascends along the uphill. Furthermore, any inclination of the rails, an angle between the rails and any angle of the double cone cannot be chosen. There is a certain range of angle of inclination and angle between the rails which works well for some angle of the double cone.

UC Riverside Physics. Detailed Explanation of Discrepant Event. As a basis for understanding this concept: c. Students know the relationship between the universal law of gravitation and the effect of gravity on an object at the surface of the Earth.

Practical Applications: Our perception can sometimes make it appear that we are moving uphill when we are actually moving down hill. Target response: Close examination reveals that it is not actually rolling uphill. Due to the arrangement of the two rails, the center of mass actually is moving downward as the object rolls.

Common Misconceptions: The object will move in a direction parallel to the ramp regardless of the shape of the object. If it appears to be going uphill, it is going uphill. The ramp is obviously lower to the left than it is to the right. A view of our cost saving apparatus using readily available materials. This model can be constructed easily with materials readily available in the lab. Two plastic rulers and a cardboard box were used as the ramp. Two glass funnels carefully taped together with transparent packing tape composed the rolling object.

The conical shape of the object allows the center of mass to drop as the object appears to roll 'up' the ramp.