A balloonist at an altitude of 800m drops a package. One second later, the balloonist drops a second package. How far apart are the packages the instant that

Question

A balloonist at an altitude of 800m drops a package. One second later, the balloonist drops a second package. How far apart are the packages the instant that the first one hits the ground ?

Answer 1

Hi Zainab

Time taken by first packet to hit the ground is t

H = 1/2 gt ² as initial velocity is zero

Using g = 10 m/s ²

 800 = 5t ²

Gives t= 12.65 sec

Now to know where is second packet after 

 

time available to second packet is 12.65- 1.0 sec = 11.65 sec

 

So the distance covered in this time

 

H' =1/2 gt ² = 678.6 m

So the separation between the two = 800.0-678.6 = 121.4 m from the ground