Question

A steel ball is dropped onto a thick piece of foam. The ball is released 2.5 meters above the foam. The foam compresses 3.0⁢ cm as the ball comes to rest. What is the magnitude of the ball's acceleration as it comes to rest on the foam? Ignore air resistance.

Answer 1

To find the magnitude of the ball's acceleration as it comes to rest on the foam, we can use the equations for velocity and acceleration.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the magnitude of the ball's acceleration as it comes to rest on the foam, we can use the equation for acceleration: acceleration = (final velocity - initial velocity) / time. Since the ball comes to rest, its final velocity is 0. The initial velocity can be found using the equation for velocity: velocity = √(2 * acceleration * distance), where distance is the height from which the ball was dropped. Plugging in the given values, we can calculate the initial velocity and the time it takes for the ball to come to rest. Substituting these values into the first equation, we can find the magnitude of the ball's acceleration.