Question

Occasionally, people can survive falling large distances if the surface they land on is soft enough. During a traverse of Eiger's infamous Nordvand, mountaineer Carlos Ragone's rock anchor gave way and he plummeted 516 feet to land in snow. Amazingly, he suffered only a few bruises and a wrenched shoulder. Assuming that his impact left a hole in the snow 3.6 ft deep, estimate the magnitude of his average acceleration as he slowed to a stop (that is while he was impacting the snow).

Answer 1

4611.58 ft/s²

Step-by-step explanation:

t = Time taken

u = Initial velocity

v = Final velocity

s = Displacement

a = Acceleration due to gravity = 32.174 ft/s²

Equation of motion

`v^2-u^2=2as\\\Rightarrow v=√(2as+u^2)\\\Rightarrow v=√(2* 32.174* 516+0^2)\\\Rightarrow v=182.218\ ft/s`

`v^2-u^2=2as\\\Rightarrow a=(v^2-u^2)/(2s)\\\Rightarrow a=(0^2-182.218^2)/(2* 3.6)\\\Rightarrow a=-4611.58\ ft/s^2`

Magnitude of acceleration while stopping is 4611.58 ft/s²