Suppose two skiers (A and B) are racing. Assume a frictionless surface! They start from the top of a mountain at the same time, and glide down to the flat area below. Just before the finish line there is a ditch. The skiers can either go down into the ditch or take a flat bridge over the ditch. Both the bridge and the ditch are covered with frictionless snow. Skier A decides to go down into the ditch. Skier B decides to go over the bridge. . Which skier gets to the finish line first, or do they arrive at the same time? a. Skier A (ditch) arrives first
b. Skier B (bridge) arrives first
c. The skiers arrive at the same time
d. Neither skier arrives at the finish line

Imagine you work as a consultant, and your daily job involves listening to the constructive criticism of others. as part of your job, you must listen to opposing viewpoints to make important decisions. in this activity, you are a consulting dam engineer. you must make a decision about four different dams; should they be repaired, taken down, or left alone? you will listen to contrasting opinions about what should be done with the dams before you make the final decision. as the consulting dam engineer, what do you decide to do with this dam? explain your reasoning. by making your decision, did you support the opinions of the mayor and/or the dam safety official? why or why not? (site 1)

Search coils and credit cards. one practical way to measure magnetic field strength uses a small, closely wound coil called a search coil. the coil is initially held with its plane perpendicular to a magnetic field. the coil is then either quickly rotated a quarter-turn about a diameter or quickly pulled out of the field. (a) derive the equation relating the total charge q that flows through a search coil to the magnetic-field magnitude b. the search coil has n turns, each with area a, and the flux through the coil is decreased from its initial maximum value to zero in a time ∆t. the resistance of the coil is r, and the total charge is q = i∆t, where i is the average current induced by the change in flux. (b) in a credit card reader, the magnetic strip on the back of a credit card is rapidly “swiped” past a coil within the reader. explain, using the same ideas that underlie the operation of a search coil, how the reader can decode the information stored in the pattern of magnetization on the strip. (c) is it necessary that the credit card be “swiped” through the reader at exactly the right speed? why or why not?

Suppose a comet has an orbital period of 309.1 years around the sun. what is it’s average distance from the sun?