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Félix and Oscar are standing on a tower that is 112 feet high. Felix drops his penny while Oscar throws his penny down and it hits the ground in 2 seconds. How long will it take Felix’s penny to hit the ground and what was the initial velocity of Oscar’s penny?

User Nroose
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

It will take Felix's penny 5.35 seconds to hit the ground, and Oscar's penny had an initial velocity of 19.6 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how long it takes for Felix's penny to hit the ground, we can use the free fall equation for distance (d = 0.5 × g × t2), where g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2) and t is the time in seconds.

Since Felix drops his penny, it starts with an initial velocity of 0 m/s. For Oscar's penny, to find the initial velocity, we use the equation v = u + (g × t), where u is the initial velocity and v is the final velocity.

Given that the penny hits the ground in 2 seconds, and assuming it has gone through the last phase of its trajectory:

t = sqrt(2h/g)

where t is the time, h is the height, and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Plugging in the values, we get:

t = sqrt(2(112)/9.8)

= 5.35 seconds

To find the initial velocity of Oscar's penny, we need to use the equation for the velocity of a falling object:

v = gt

where v is the velocity and t is the time.

Plugging in the values, we get:

v = 9.8(2)

= 19.6 m/s

User TheOpti
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