Question

A 65 kg diver jumps off a 10m tower. What is the specific question regarding this scenario?

a) Calculate the time of flight.
b) Determine the speed of the diver just before hitting the water.
c) Find the potential energy of the diver at the top of the tower.
d) Identify the shape of the diver's trajectory.

Answer 1

To determine the speed of the diver just before hitting the water, we can use the principle of conservation of energy. At the top of the tower, the diver has potential energy which is converted to kinetic energy as the diver falls. Using the formula for potential energy (PE = mgh) and the formula for kinetic energy (KE = 1/2 mv^2), we can set them equal to each other and solve for the speed (v). The speed of the diver just before hitting the water is 14 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

The specific question regarding the scenario is b) Determine the speed of the diver just before hitting the water.

To determine the speed of the diver just before hitting the water, we can use the principle of conservation of energy. At the top of the tower, the diver has potential energy which is converted to kinetic energy as the diver falls. We can equate the potential energy to the kinetic energy to solve for the speed of the diver just before hitting the water.

Using the formula for potential energy (PE = mgh) and the formula for kinetic energy (KE = 1/2 mv^2), we can set them equal to each other and solve for the speed (v).

PE = KE
mgh = 1/2 mv^2
65 * 9.8 * 10 = 1/2 * 65 * v^2
v^2 = 2 * 9.8 * 10
v^2 = 196
v = 14 m/s