:: If you had an initial downward (outward) radial velocity, you'd soon
:: pick up a tangential velocity from the air; but do you accelerate
:: radially?
If you aquire a velocity tangent to a circle, you will very soon have
a radial velocity wrt that circle. Compared to the spot on the circle
where your straight-line trajectory originated, you will be accelerating
radially, and decelerating tangentially, as,over time, your trajectory
becomes more and more radial and less andless tangential, compared
to the circle through your current position.
Note also that, as you get further from the center, the air will be
blowing past you with higher and higher velocities, so you'll continue
to accelerate tangentially, and that will be turned into radial velocity
in the above manner.
You can also look at it in rotating coordinates, but it's more complicated
and you'll get the same answers. As you accelerate tangentially, your
centrifugal "force" increases beyond the coriolis force that held you
steady, and you'll start heading for the wall.
Or look at it this way. If you are pushed tangentially, you won't go in
a circular path and stay the same distance from the center. Objects tend
to go in straight lines, and any straight line will intersect the wall.
Wayne Throop throopw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://sheol.org/throopw
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