Question

You are trying to find out how high you have to pitch a water balloon in order for it to burst when it hits the ground. You discover that the balloon bursts when you have pitched it to a height of 15 m. With what velocity did the balloon hit the ground? The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2 . The positive direction is up, so the velocity when it hits is negative. Answer in units of m/s.

Answer 1

17.15 m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

This is a case of free fall, so we can use the next equation:

`v_(f)^2=v_(i)^2+2gh`

where

`v_(f)` is the final velocity

`v_(i)` is the initial velocity (0 in this case)

`g` is the acceleration of gravity
`9.8m/s^2`

and
`h` is the height at wich the ballon was pitched.

So we have:

`v_(f)=\sqrt{v_(i)^2+2gh} =√(0^2+2(9.8m/s^2)(15m)) =√(294m^2/s^2) =17.15m/s`

The final velocity, the velocity of the ballon when it hits the ground is 17.15m/s.