Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/s7/1/3/solution

The floor contributes gravitational potential . Neglecting vertical velocity as specified, for the nonrotating cup orientation the Lagrangian is
For general , replace the velocity components by and . The potential remains the same because the paraboloid is axisymmetric.

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