Gnarls B.

asked • 09/15/17

Is there a quicker way to do this kinematics problem?

A tired student jumps onto his bed. If he jumps 1.5 m and lands onto his bed that is 0.7 m, how long is he in the air for?
 
I combined the times for him going up and then going down. Is there a quicker way to do this?

1 Expert Answer

By:

Arturo O. answered • 09/15/17

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Gnarls B.

Yes, I accounted for that, but I'm confused with the second part. Why did you plug in 0.7? I thought you had to find the time for the upwards part of the jump, then the time for when the student goes downwards. 
 
 
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09/15/17

Arturo O.

I assume you want to find the time when the student lands on the bed.  The problem statement says the height of the bed is 0.7 m.  You have an equation for the height h as a function of time t.  Solve for the t that makes h equal to the height of the bed.
 
h(t) = 0.7 m
 
Solve for t.  There is no need to solve separately for a t on the way up and a t on the way down, to be added later.  Since h(t) is a quadratic, there are 2 solutions.  The lower solution is the time it takes to reach 0.7 m on the way up, and the higher solution is the time it takes to reach 0.7 m on the way down, with both times referenced to the moment of the jump, which is t = 0.  The answer you seek is the time it takes to land on the bed, which is the higher of the two times.
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09/15/17

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