Question

During a tornado in 2008 the peachtree plaza Westin hotel in downtown Atlanta suffered damage. Suppose a piece of glass dropped near the top of the hotel falls 215 meters. What will the velocity of the piece of glass be when it strikes the ground?

Answer 1

Answer: 64.91 m/s

Explanation:

This situation is related to free fall, since we are told the piece of glass "dropped".

Now, since this can be considered a one-dimension problem, we can use the following equation:

$V^{2}=V_{o}^{2}+2gd$

Where:

$V$ is the final velocity of the glass

$V_{o}=0 m/s$ is the initial velocity of the glass

$g=9.8 m/s^{2}$ is the acceleration due gravity

$d=215 m$ is the distance from where the glass fell

Isolating $V$:

$V=\sqrt{V_{o}^{2}+2gd}$

$V=\sqrt{2(9.8 m/s^{2})(215 m)}$

$V=64.91 m/s$ This is the final velocity of the glass