A ball with a horizontal speed of 1.25 m/s rolls off a bench 1.00 m above the floor.

Question

A ball with a horizontal speed of 1.25 m/s rolls off a bench 1.00 m above the floor.

How long will it take the ball to hit the floor?

How far from a point on the floor directly below the edge of the bench will the ball land?

Answer 1

To find the time it takes for the ball to hit the ground, we use the equation, Δx = 1/2at^2, with a = g = 9.8m/s^2. We rearrange the equation, using Δx = 1m, to get t = 0.45 s. Then we use this time to calculate the horizontal distance that the ball traveled in the air because horizontal velocity is constant in a free fall problem. So we use the equation Δx = v*t = 1.25 m/s * 0.45 s = 0.56 m.