Saturday, December 10, 2005

A light (sic) post

Going the exact opposite way, here is a not-so-recent conversation I had with my roommate, Mridul Balaraman.

(Note: I here is me, and M is Mridul)

I: How many springs does a basketball have?
M: A basketball doesnt have springs in it.
I: Sure it does, how else does the ball bounce?
M: That's because it has air in it.
I: This room has air, how come it ain't bouncin' around?
M: That's because it's stuck to the ground!
I: I can pin this ball to the ground, and my hands bounce off it!
M: The room has doors and windows that the ball doesn't.
I: If I make a tear in this ball, my hand still bounces off it!

Mridul then went off about elasticity and rigidity to prove that I was wrong. I countered by claiming that a spring is a form of elasticity as well.

Without going off into scientific principles, and by simply making some dumb (but seemingly logical) arguments, how far can you take this debate? Anyone brave enough to further an argument?

Edit:
Lines 1 to 5 in the conversation were obtained from something that came on the TV (dont remember what), and the rest was made up by me and Mridul.

5 comments:

Gypsy said...

It all depends on who the ball is made for! An NBA basketball is made of composite leather, a synthetic material designed to withstand slam dunks and allow all-stars like Kobe Bryant to keep a good grip as they go for the ally-oop! WNBA balls are also made of composites but are slightly smaller because female players tend to have smaller hands. High school and college stars use real leather balls sometimes. Rubber balls are for new players and are great for street games because of their durability. Beneath the surface, deep within each basketball there is a gridwork of nylon, rubber, and a material called butyl. These layers help the ball stand up to hours of double dribbles

SKK said...

dude... stick to the serious posts ;-)

Gypsy said...

LOL!!! listen to sanjit!

Sailesh Ganesh said...

Well, I suppose that is the end of complaints about heavy posts!

Anonymous said...

Dude,

I had the radio on on the way to work this morning, and the entire conversation you related was played as a clip from the Ali G show. There is copyright infringement here, either by you or by the makers of that show. Just letting you know.