Question

A hot air balloon is ascending at a rate of 7.3 m/s when a passenger drops a camera. What is the velocity of the camera just after it is dropped?

1) 7.3 m/s
2) 0 m/s
3) 9.8 m/s²
4) Cannot be determined

Answer 1

The velocity of the camera just after it is dropped from the ascending hot air balloon is 7.3 m/s, the same as the balloon's rate of ascent.

Step-by-step explanation:

The velocity of the camera just after it is dropped from the ascending hot air balloon will be the same as the velocity of the balloon at the moment it was dropped, because before dropping, the camera was moving upwards with the balloon. Therefore, the correct answer is 7.3 m/s. This is due to the fact that the camera retains the upward velocity of the balloon the instant it becomes a free-falling object, and only after that will it begin to decelerate due to gravity.