Question

An astronaut on a strange planet finds that she can jump a maximum horizontal distance of 16.0 m if her initial speed is 3.60 m/s. what is the free-fall acceleration on the planet? (ignore air resistance.)

Answer 1

The maximum height that is reached by an object thrown or jumped at a certain initial velocity can be calculated through the equation,

2ad = Vf² - Vi²

Vf is zero (0) in this equation because this is the point at the velocity at the maximum height of the object.

Substituting the known values,
2(a)(-16) = 0 - (3.6)²

The value of a from the equation is 0.405 m/s².

Answer: 0.405 m/s²