Question

Your friend standing on a 45 foot balcony. He asks you to throw a baseball up to him. You throw a baseball with an initial upward velocity of 50 ft./s. Assuming that you released the baseball 6 feet above the ground, did it reach your friend? Explain.

Answer 1

Vertical motion formula is h = -16t^2 +vt +s where v is initial velocity and s is starting height:

h = -16t^2 + 50t +6

Solving for t: -50/-32 = 1.5625 seconds to reach maximum height.

Now replace t and solve for h ( maximum height)

h = -16(1.5625)^2 +50(1.5625) + 6

h = 45.0625

The value for h is greater than the height of the balcony, so yes the ball reached the friend.