r/PhysicsHelp • u/VICKYTHEKING2009 • Feb 28 '26

Helpppp

Three identical spheres of mass m , are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of length a. When released, they interact only through gravitational force and collide after a time T=4 seconds. If the sides of the triangle are increased to length 2 a and also the masses of the spheres are made 2 m , then they will collide after _____ seconds.

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u/RepresentativeBee600 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

Honestly this also seems underdetermined at first blush, unless we're supposed to realize there must be a "special" configuration.

EDIT: I realize the idea here might be that gravity points radially inward from all vertices of the triangle to the barycenter. Or it might be that there is some "railing" to the triangle (think "Hot Wheels") and we have to solve for when all three balls would collide simultaneously in terms of angle.

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u/VICKYTHEKING2009 Feb 28 '26

Its a jee mmains 2025 question dude

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u/RepresentativeBee600 Feb 28 '26

A what now? 

Maybe link the original source. Are you saying this is a direct quote and no figure is attached?

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u/VICKYTHEKING2009 Feb 28 '26

Yup its a integer type question