Question

In mostar, bosnia, the ultimate test of a young man's courage once was to jump off a 400-year-old bridge (now destroyed) into the river neretva, 23 m below the bridge. how fast was the man traveling upon impact with the river?

Answer 1

The man would be traveling approximately 21.23 meters per second upon impact with the river after jumping from a 23-meter high bridge, calculated using the free fall formula √(2*g*h) assuming negligible air resistance.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question focuses on a physics problem related to the concept of free fall motion and the final velocity of an object when it impacts a surface. Specifically, it asks how fast a man was traveling upon impact with the river after jumping from a bridge in Mostar, Bosnia, which was 23 meters above the river Neretva.

To calculate the final velocity upon impact, we use the physics equation that comes from the principles of energy conservation and kinematics for objects in free fall. Assuming negligible air resistance and using the acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2), the final velocity (v) can be calculated with the formula v = √(2*g*h), where h is the height of the free fall and g is the acceleration due to gravity.

For a man jumping from a 23-meter high bridge, the calculation would be as follows:
v = √(2*9.81 m/s2*23 m) = √(450.66 m2/s2) = 21.23 m/s. Thus, the man's impact velocity with the water would approximately be 21.23 meters per second. This calculation resembles other dramatic historical instances where individuals have survived falls from great heights, such as Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade during the World War II, although their survival was partly due to factors like snow-covered sloping terrain which allowed for a much smaller deceleration.