Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask
    serenitymantra's Avatar
    serenitymantra Posts: 28, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Sep 22, 2008, 07:14 AM
    Vectors. Seconds for car to fall off 73-m-high cliff?
    Cancel
    hcbowman's Avatar
    hcbowman Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #2

    Sep 23, 2008, 08:51 AM
    Hi Serenity. Not many details here, are there?

    Since you say this question has to do with vectors, I suspect there's more to the question than what you've given. I wonder if it's in two parts, perhaps the first part being how long it takes to fall and the second part being how far it goes during the fall? Anyway, let's do the "how long" part.

    The equation of motion you want looks like this:

    x = (1/2)(a)(t^2) + (v_o)(t)

    where (t^2) means "t squared" and (v_o) means the original velocity. X is the distance traveled and t is the time. A is acceleration, which for a body falling freely is the acceleration due to gravity, or g = 9.8 (m/s^2)

    What your vector analysis allows you to do here is to separate the vertical motion from the horizontal motion. That means that no matter how fast the car was going horizontally when it went over the cliff, it will still hit the ground below in the same amount of time. Everything here is in the vertical direction, so what is the original vertical velocity?

    (SPOILER: the original vertical velocity was 0 -- the car wasn't falling until it went off the cliff.)

    Now we substitute in all the stuff we know:

    73m = (1/2) (9.8m/s^2)(t^2) + (0)(t)

    we have one unknown, the "t" term. Solve for it to find how long it takes for the car to hit.

    (SPOILER: I get 3.9s to 2 significant figures.)

    So... where is there a 73m cliff we can try this out? :D

Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions

 

Question Tools Search this Question
Search this Question:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.


Check out some similar questions!

Vectors. Seconds for car to fall off 73-m-high cliff? [ 1 Answers ]

A car drives horizontally off a 73-m-cliff at a speed of 27 m/s. Ignore air resistance. How long will it take the car to hit the ground? How far from the base of the cliff will the car hit? I do not know which equation to start with :confused:.. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

Movie-woman drives man off cliff and needs reconstruction of face [ 3 Answers ]

I remember this movie where this woman who is having an affair kills her husband with the boyfriend and when the boyfriend wants to go to the police the woman decides that she would kill him by driving over a cliff but she gets out before it goes over. He survives but has no recollection of his...

Bush Taking GOP Off a Cliff [ 4 Answers ]

"With only 24 percent of Americans thinking the country is on the right track, the behavior of the leading GOP presidential candidates is utterly befuddling. Not a single one has tried to put any distance between himself and the president -- especially on foreign policy, the area of Bush's most...

Outside Blower kicks on for 5 seconds then goes off for 10 seconds [ 1 Answers ]

I've looked all over this forum for something like this, but nothing I've see quite nails my problem so If I missed it, sorry. Here it goes... My outside blower comes on for about 5 seconds when my thermostat activates for the heat. With furnace still on the blower shuts off for 10 seconds and...

Wires on my remote control for my Hampton ceiling fan? [ 1 Answers ]

:( I'm having trouble trying to fiqure out which wires on my remote control for my Hampton Ceiling Fan... The remote has wires that do not exactly match up with the ceiling fan... Could you please help?


View more questions Search