Question

During a free fall Swati was accelerating at -9.8m/s^2. After 120 seconds how far did she travel? Use the formula =1/2 * t^2 to solve your answer. (Do not forget to keep units in your answer.)

Answer 1

Answer: 70.56 km

From the Equation of motion:

`s=ut+(1)/(2)at^2`

where,
`s` is the distance covered,
`u` is the initial speed,
`a` is the acceleration and
`t` is the time.

In the question it is given that the Swati was in a free fall. This means that her initial velocity is 0 and she is just falling due to gravity. It means she is experiencing acceleration due to gravity.
`a=g=-9.8 m/s^2` for time
`t=120 s`

Substitute the values in the equation of motion:

`s=0-\frac {1}{2}9.8ms^(-2)* (120s)^2=(-141120)/(2)m=70560 m=70.56 km` (ignore the negative sign)