Question

If the rock is launched perfectly horizontal, how far down will the little rock travel before hitting the ground?

1) Cannot be determined
2) Depends on the initial velocity of the rock
3) Depends on the mass of the rock
4) Depends on the height from which the rock is launched

Answer 1

The distance a horizontally launched rock travels down before hitting the ground solely depends on the height from which it is launched, because gravity accelerates all objects at the same rate regardless of their mass.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a rock is launched perfectly horizontally, the distance it travels down before hitting the ground depends on the height from which the rock is launched and is unrelated to the rock's mass or its initial horizontal velocity. This is because all objects in free-fall near the Earth's surface accelerate downward at the same rate, regardless of their mass, if we ignore air resistance.

The time of fall can be calculated using the equation t = √(2h/g), where t is the time in seconds, h is the height in meters, and g is the acceleration due to gravity, which is approximately 9.81 m/s2 on Earth. Once the time to fall is determined, the horizontal distance traveled, which is not being asked, can be found by multiplying the initial horizontal velocity by the time of fall.