Teen Solves 300-Year-Old Ballistics Riddle
A German 16-year-old has become the first person to solve a mathematical problem posed by Sir Isaac Newton more than 300 years ago.
Shouryya Ray worked out how to calculate exactly the path of a projectile under gravity and subject to air resistance, The (London) Sunday Times reported.
The Indian-born teen said he solved the problem that had stumped mathematicians for centuries while working on a school project.
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If that wasn’t enough of an achievement, Ray has also solved a second problem, dealing with the collision of a body with a wall, that was posed in the 19th century.
Both problems Ray resolved are from the field of dynamics and his solutions are expected to contribute to greater precision in areas such as ballistics.
More at the link.
2 Responses to “Teen Solves 300-Year-Old Ballistics Riddle”
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on 27 May 2012 at 11:56 pm # DoctorT
I think the story is BS. Anyone with knowledge of ballistics knows that the relationships among projectile velocity, gravity, and air resistance (drag) have been well understood for decades. Simple ballistic equations ignore air resistance, but advanced equations include drag, which is proportional to the squared velocity of the projectile and changes continuously during the projectile’s flight. The Wikipedia page “Trajectory of a Projectile” shows the equations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajectory_of_a_projectile#Trajectory_of_a_projectile_with_air_resistance
on 28 May 2012 at 2:27 am # Henry Mitchel
Knowing that a 16 year old teenager solved the two problems. That is too epic! So great for him.