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A car drives off the edge of a 54 m high cliff with a horizontal velocity of 45 m/s. What is the amount of time it took for the car to hit the ground.

User Baztoune
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1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

It took approximately 3.32 seconds for the car to hit the ground.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the amount of time it took for the car to hit the ground, we can use the equation for vertical motion:

d = v0t + (1/2)gt2

where:

d is the vertical distance (54 m)

v0 is the initial vertical velocity (0 m/s since the car starts at rest vertically)

g is the acceleration due to gravity (-9.8 m/s2)

t is the time it takes for the car to hit the ground (unknown)

Substituting the given values into the equation:

54 = 0(t) + (1/2)(-9.8)(t2)

Expanding and simplifying:

54 = -4.9t2

Diving both sides by -4.9:

t2 = -54/-4.9

t2 = 11.0204

Taking the square root of both sides:

t ≈ 3.32 s

Therefore, it took approximately 3.32 seconds for the car to hit the ground.

User Will Hancock
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