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Free Fall Falling Objects

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11 views4 pages

Free Fall Falling Objects

Uploaded by

josephomary123
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Calculating Position and Velocity of a

Falling Object: A Rock t h rown


Upward
A person standing on the edge of a high cliff throws a rock straight up with an initial
velocity of 13.0 m/s. The rock misses the edge of the cliff as it falls back to earth.
Calculate the position and velocity of the rock 1.00 s, 2.00 s, and 3.00 s after it is
thrown, neglecting the effects of air resistance.

Strategy

Draw a sketch.

vi

Figure 14.2

We are asked to determine the position x at various times. It is reasonable to take the
initial position xi to be zero. This problem involves one-dimensional motion in the
vertical direction. We use plus and minus signs to indicate direction, with up being
positive and down negative. Since up is positive, and the rock is thrown upward, the
initial velocity must be positive too. The acceleration due to gravity is downward, so a
is negative. It is crucial that the initial velocity and the acceleration due to gravity
have opposite signs. Opposite signs indicate that the acceleration due to gravity op-
poses the initial motion and will slow and eventually reverse it.

Solution for Position xf


1. Identify the knowns. We know that 0 x= 0; vi = 13.0 m/s; a = −g = −9.80 m/s2;
and t = 1.00 s.

2. Identify the best equation to use. We will use xf = xi + vit + 1 2 at2 because it in-
cludes only one unknown, x (or xf, here), which is the value we want to nd.

3. Plug in the known values and solve for xf.

xf = 0 + (13.0 m/s) (1.00 s) + 1


(−9.80 m/s ) (1.00 s)
2
2 2
= 8.10 m
Discussion

The rock is 8.10 m above its starting point at t = 1.00 s, since xf > xi. It could be
moving up or down; the only way to tell is to calculate vf and out if it is positive or
negative.

Solution for Velocity vf

1. Identify the knowns. We know that 0 xi = 0; vi = 13.0 m/s; a = −g = −9.80


m/s2; and t = 1.00 s. We also know from the solution above that xf = 8.10 m.

2. Identify the best equation to use. The most straightforward is vf = vi − gt (from


vf = vi + at, where a = gravitational acceleration = −g).

3. Plug in the knowns and solve.

vf = vi − gt = 13.0 m/s − (9.80 m/s ) (1.00 s) = 3.20 m/s


2

Discussion

The positive value for vf means that the rock is still heading upward at t = 1.00 s.
However, it has slowed from its original 13.0 m/s, as expected.

Solution for Remaining Times

The procedures for calculating the position and velocity at t = 2.00 s and 3.00 s are
the same as those above. The results are summarized in Table 14.1 and illustrated in
Figure 14.3.

Time, Position, Acceleration,


Velocity, v
t x a

1.00 s 8.10 m 3.20 m/s −9.80 m/s2

2.00 s 6.40 m −6.60 m/s −9.80 m/s2

3.00 s −5.10 m −16.4 m/s −9.80 m/s2

Table 14.1 Results


Figure 14.3 Vertical position, vertical velocity, and vertical acceleration vs. time for a rock thrown
vertically up at the edge of a cliff. Notice that velocity changes linearly with time and that
acceleration is constant. Misconception Alert! Notice that the position vs. time graph shows
vertical position only. It is easy to get the impression that the graph shows some horizontal motion
—the shape of the graph looks like the path of a projectile. But this is not the case; the horizontal axis is
time, not space. The actual path of the rock in space is straight up, and straight down.
Discussion

The interpretation of these results is important. At 1.00 s the rock is above its starting
point and heading upward, since xf and vf are both positive. At 2.00 s, the rock is still
above its starting point, but the negative velocity means it is moving downward. At
3.00 s, both xf and vf are negative, meaning the rock is below its starting point and
continuing to move downward. Notice that when the rock is at its highest point (at 1.5
s), its velocity is zero, but its acceleration is still −9.80 m/s2. Its acceleration is
−9.80 m/s2

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