Question

First a girl drops a snowball straight down from the roof of her apartment house. It hits the ground with a velocity vy=-20 m/s.

A.)How long was it in the air?

Next still on the roof she throws the snowball sideways with a velocity of vx = 6m/s and vy = 0m/s
B.) how long was it in the air this time?

C.) how far away from the building does it land?

Answer 1

(a) The time of motion of the snowball is 2.04 s

(b) when it is thrown sideways the time of motion is 0 s

(c) The horizontal distance traveled by the snowball is 12.24 m.

How to calculate the time of motion of the snowball?

(a) The time of motion of the snowball is calculated by applying the following formula as shown below.

vy = u + gt

where;

• vy is the final velocity of the snowball
• u is the initial velocity of the snowball
• g is acceleration due to gravity
• t is the time of motion

The given parameters;

final velocity = 20 m/s

initial velocity = 0 m/s

acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s²

20 = 0 + 9.8t

t = 20 / 9.8

t = 2.04 s

(b) when it is thrown sideways with a velocity of vx = 6m/s and vy = 0m/s, the time of motion is;

0 = 0 + 9.8t

t = 0 s

(c) The horizontal distance traveled by the snowball is;

x = vx (t)

x = 6 m/s x 2.04 s

x = 12.24 m