Question

An object falls off a bridge and takes 6.5 seconds to hit the water. (neglect air resistance)

A. How high is the bridge?
B. What is the object's average velocity?
C. How fast will the object be traveling just before it hits the water?

Answer 1

To find the height of the bridge, we use the distance formula with gravity and time (d = 1/2 * g * t^2). The average velocity is the total distance divided by the total time, and the final speed before impact can be calculated with v = g * t.

Step-by-step explanation:

An object falls off a bridge and takes 6.5 seconds to hit the water, neglecting air resistance.

1. To calculate how high the bridge is, we use the formula for the distance traveled under constant acceleration due to gravity: d = 1/2 * g * t^2, where g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2), and t is the time (6.5 seconds). So, d = 1/2 * 9.8 m/s^2 * (6.5 s)^2, which gives us the height of the bridge.
2. The average velocity of the object can be calculated by dividing the total distance by the total time. Since the velocity is initially 0 m/s and is increasing due to gravity, we take the average of the initial and final velocities.
3. The object's speed just before it hits the water can be determined using the formula v = g * t where v is the final velocity and g and t are as defined above.