Question

A ball rolls off a table with a horizontal velocity of 7 m/s. It takes 1.2 seconds for it to reach the floor. Use the value of g as 10 m/s^2. What is the downward component of the balls velocity just before it hits the floor?

Answer 1

Hey!

So, to figure out the downward speed of the ball just before it hits the floor, we use the gravity thing (g = 10 m/s²). Gravity pulls the ball down faster and faster, right?

Here's how you calculate it: the speed increases by 10 meters per second every second because of gravity. The ball takes 1.2 seconds to hit the ground. So, you just multiply the gravity (10 m/s²) by the time (1.2 seconds).

Let's do the math: 10 m/s² * 1.2 s = ?

I'll calculate that real quick!

The downward speed of the ball just before it hits the floor is 12 m/s. Gravity really speeds things up, huh?