Venus1522
Sep 11, 2007, 02:43 PM
A juggler throws a ball straight up into the air. The ball remains in the air for a time before it lands back in the jugglers hand.
 
With what speed did the juggler throw the ball into the air?
bill2007
Sep 11, 2007, 03:46 PM
Been a while since I took physics, but... 
The total energy of the baal should remain equal.  When the ball is a the peak of its height, it has 100% potential energy.  When it is just about to leave the juggler's hand, it has 100% kinetic energy.  These two values should be the same.
 
First, calculate the potential energy at the peak height.  U=mgh where U=potential energy, m=mass of the ball, g=standard gravity (9.8m/s-squared), and h=height of the ball.  This value should also equal the kinetic energy when the ball is leaving the juggler's hand.
 
For kinetic energy, E=0.5mv-squared where E=kinetic energy (equal to potential energy calculated above), m=mass of the ball, and v=velocity.
 
Mathematically
U=E
mgh=0.5mv-squared
 
since m is on both sides it can be eliminated (meaning you don't need to know the mass of the ball)
 
gh=0.5v-squared
 
solving for v (velocity)
 
v=square root of 2gh
 
Hope this makes sense.