Question

An inverted garbage can of weight W is suspended in air by water from a geyser. The water shoots up from the ground with a speed v0, at a constant rate K kg/s. The problem is to find the maximum height at which the garbage can rides. Neglect the effect of the water falling away from the garbage can.

Answer 1

This physics question involves using the conservation of energy to calculate the mass of ice melted by the conversion of kinetic and gravitational potential energy as frozen waste falls from a plane.

Step-by-step explanation:

The problem provided is a physics question that deals with the concept of conservation of energy. Specifically, it involves determining the mass of ice melted by the conversion of kinetic and gravitational potential energy of frozen waste falling from a plane. In tackling this problem, one has to calculate the energy lost by the waste from its initial height to the height when it strikes the ground and then use the specific heat of fusion to determine the mass of ice melted.

For the waste falling from 12.0 km and having an initial speed of 250 m/s, hitting the ground at 100 m/s, we can use the conservation of energy principle. The total energy at the beginning and the end remains constant, thus:

∆KE + ∆PE = Heat used to melt the ice

Where ∆KE = ½ m(vf² - vi²) and ∆PE = mg∆h. Here, m is the mass of the waste, g is the acceleration due to gravity, ∆h is the change in height, vi is the initial velocity, and vf is the final velocity. The amount of heat required to melt ice can then be found by multiplying the mass of water formed (m'), which is what we want to find, by the latent heat of fusion of ice.