Question

Suppose you are an astronaut and you have been stationed on a distant planet. you would like to find the acceleration due to the gravitational force on this planet so you devise an experiment. you throw a rock up in the air with an initial velocity of 11 m/s and use a stopwatch to record the time it takes to hit the ground. if it takes 7.0 s for the rock to return to the same location from which it was released, what is the acceleration due to gravity on the planet?

Answer 1

Answer: g = -3.143 m/s²

Explanation: To determine acceleration due to the gravitational force, it can be used the following formula:

v = v₀ + gt, where:

v₀ is the initial velocity;

g is acceleration due to gravity

t is the time to return to the point of origin

When the rock return to the point of origin, there is no velocity, so v = 0.

The time to go up is the same to go down, so t =
`(t)/(2)` =
`(7)/(2)`.

Substituing in the formula:

v = v₀ + gt

0 = 11 + g.
`(7)/(2)`

g =
`((0 - 11).2)/(7)`

g = - 3.143

The acceleration due to the gravitational force is g = - 3.143 m/s².