Question

An airplane flying horizontally at a constant speed of 350 km/h over level ground releases a bundle of food supplies. Ignore the effect of the air on the bundle.

a. What is the bundle’s initial vertical component of velocity?
b. What is the bundle’s initial horizontal component of velocity?
c. What is its horizontal component of velocity just before hitting the ground?
d. If the airplane’s speed were, instead, 450 km/h, would the time of fall be longer, shorter, or the same?

Answer 1

The bundle's initial vertical component of velocity is 0 m/s, the initial horizontal component of velocity is 350 km/h, the horizontal component of velocity just before hitting the ground is also 350 km/h, and the time of fall is the same regardless of the airplane's speed.

Step-by-step explanation:

To answer the questions:

a. The bundle's initial vertical component of velocity is 0 m/s because the bundle is released horizontally. The vertical component of velocity only changes due to the effect of gravity.

b. The bundle's initial horizontal component of velocity is the same as the airplane's horizontal velocity, which is 350 km/h.

c. The bundle's horizontal component of velocity just before hitting the ground is also 350 km/h because there is no horizontal acceleration.

d. If the airplane's speed were 450 km/h, the time of fall would be the same because the initial horizontal component of velocity does not affect the time of fall.