Question

A trapeze artist, starting from rest, swings downward on the bar, lets go at the bottom of the swing, and falls freely to the net. An assistant, standing on the same platform as the trapeze artist, jumps from rest straight downward. Friction and air resistance are negligible. Which one strikes the net with a greater speed?

Answer 1

In a frictionless and air resistance-free environment, both the trapeze artist and the jumping assistant experience the same acceleration due to gravity. However, the trapeze artist strikes the net with a greater overall speed due to the horizontal velocity component acquired from swinging.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to the principles of mechanics within physics, particularly dealing with the concepts of gravity, free-fall, and motion. When a trapeze artist swings and lets go at the bottom of the swing, they have gained kinetic energy due to the conversion from potential energy at the start of the swing.

In the absence of air resistance and friction, the only force acting on both the trapeze artist and the assistant jumping from rest is gravity, which causes both to accelerate downwards at the same rate (approximately 9.81 m/s² on Earth). However, the artist who swings had an initial horizontal velocity component when releasing the bar, which combined with the vertical velocity as they fell, would result in a larger overall speed upon impact compared to the assistant who jumped straight down with no initial horizontal component.

Both individuals would strike the net with the same vertical speed, but the trapeze artist would have a greater total speed due to this horizontal component.