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    Yamina's Avatar
    Yamina Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jan 27, 2007, 02:38 PM
    Physics homework
    If a free falling rock were equipped with an odometer, would the readings for distance fallen each second stay the same, increase with time, or decrease with time?
    Capuchin's Avatar
    Capuchin Posts: 5,255, Reputation: 656
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    #2

    Jan 27, 2007, 03:06 PM
    The question can be simplifued to "will the rock be accelerating, decelerating, or staying the same velocity?"

    Think about it and let me know what you think the answer is :)
    cool_dude's Avatar
    cool_dude Posts: 124, Reputation: 9
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    #3

    Jan 27, 2007, 04:28 PM
    Tricky question because it doesn't tell you if you've reached terminal velocity. Thus you can potentially have different answers depending on situation.
    Nosnosna's Avatar
    Nosnosna Posts: 434, Reputation: 103
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    #4

    Jan 27, 2007, 04:36 PM
    Terminal velocity is a function of drag caused by air resistance and various properties of the object... since no details of the atmosphere or the object are given, you can safely assume that you are dealing in a vacuum.
    Capuchin's Avatar
    Capuchin Posts: 5,255, Reputation: 656
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    #5

    Jan 27, 2007, 04:37 PM
    You can give a more complete answer by assuming there is an atmosphere though :)

    Depends if this is a one word answer or a longer answer needed.
    Nosnosna's Avatar
    Nosnosna Posts: 434, Reputation: 103
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    #6

    Jan 27, 2007, 04:42 PM
    Good point :)

    I'm assuming from the phrasing of the question that this is a high school physics question, rather than a college level mechanics course (we never did anything with terminal velocities in high school, aside from discuss the basic concept), but I could be wrong on that.
    cool_dude's Avatar
    cool_dude Posts: 124, Reputation: 9
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    #7

    Jan 27, 2007, 05:19 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by Nosnosna
    Good point :)

    I'm assuming from the phrasing of the question that this is a high school physics question, rather than a college level mechanics course (we never did anything with terminal velocities in high school, aside from discuss the basic concept), but I could be wrong on that.
    Just finished grade 12 physics so no you are not wrong we did not do much on terminal velocity. We discussed the concept of it but in word problems we ignored terminal velocity.

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Physics Homework [ 7 Answers ]

if a rock is falling at 10 m/s and was dropped near the surface of a planet where g = 20 m/s^2 by how much would its speed change each second


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