let's say

if you hold two balls in the air

a 10 gram metal ball and a five gram

metal ball and you hold it

five feet above the ground so they're at

the same height

once you release it from rest both balls

will be in free fall

which one will hit the ground first is

it the 10 gram ball

or is it the five grand ball

both objects will reach the ground at

the same time

the reason for that they're placed at

the same height and

are under the influence of the same

gravity earth's gravity

the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8

meters per second squared

which we'll talk more about that later

but because everything is the same the

height is the same

the acceleration is the same if you take

away air resistance

both objects will hit the ground

now let's say if

we use an actual demonstration of a

brick

versus a flat piece of paper

so the brick is a lot heavier than the

flat piece of paper let's say it's a

a one kilogram brick

now with air resistance which one will

hit the ground first

the brick is going to go straight down

the paper

might go this way that might go that way

and then eventually fall to the ground

because of air resistance now

what's going to happen if

you take the same brick but you crumpled

up the paper

so that it's very very small you take

that same paper and crumple it up

now the effects of air resistance on

this paper will be greatly reduced

if you crumple up the paper very tightly

and you let it go

these two will hit the ground

approximately about the same time

the greater the surface area of the

paper

the greater the effect of air resistance

air resistance increases with surface

area so once you crumple up the paper

and then you drop it you'll see that

it's about the same time

when it reaches the ground with the

brick
the air resistance is greatly reduced so

if you can eliminate air resistance

completely

then both objects should hit the ground

at the exact same time

because they're under the influence of

the same gravity

earth's gravitational field

now let's talk more about the

acceleration due to gravity

so if we have a ball and if we release

it from rest it's going to fall

down and it's going to accelerate at the

rate of 9.8 meters per second

square so if you recall acceleration

tells you how fast the velocity is

changing every second

so initially the speed might be zero

one second later

the velocity is going to be negative 9.8

the speed is just positive 9.8 speed is

always positive but velocity

can be positive or negative depending on

the direction

so because the ball is going in the

negative y direction

the velocity is negative

now technically acceleration is negative

9.8 meters per second squared

because the object is going to

accelerate in the negative y direction

gravity pulls things down not up

now two seconds later

the velocity is going to be negative

19.6 meters per second

so every second the velocity

is changing the speed changes every

every second the speed changes by 9.8

so as the ball drops notice that the

velocity

is decreasing by 9.8 it's becoming more

and more negative

the speed however is increasing keep in

mind speed is positive

so at this point the speed is positive

9.8 it's 19.6

and here it's positive 29.4

so an object in free fall that's under

the influence of gravity

the speed is increasing by 9.8 every

second

but the velocity because it's negative

is decreasing

by 9.8 every second so remember

acceleration tells you

how fast the velocity is changing every

second

now before we go over a few free fall

problems we need to talk about the

equations that you need to solve them

so whenever an object is moving with

constant speed

this is the equation that you need to

use d is equal to v t

d can be used as distance or

displacement just remember

distance is a scalar quantity

displacement is a vector

so displacement can be positive or

negative but distance

is always positive so anytime an object

is moving with constant speed you can

use this equation

now when an object is moving with

constant acceleration

you can use any one of these four

equations v

final is equal to v initial plus a t

v final could represent the final speed

or final velocity

v initial is the initial speed or

initial velocity

a is the acceleration t is the time so

you may see me

use the word speed and velocity

interchangeably

just remember that

velocity is speed with direction speed

is the scalar quantity

it can only be positive velocity can be

positive or negative

depending on what direction you're going

so for an object that's moving to the

right

the velocity is positive if the object

moves to the left

the velocity is negative but in free

fall situations

we're dealing with motion in the y

direction when an object goes up

the velocity is positive when it goes

down the velocity is negative

the next formula that you need to know

is this one

d is equal to v initial t

plus one half a t squared

and then there's this one d is equal to

one half

v initial plus v final times t

and v final squared is equal to v

initial squared

plus two a d so there are five formulas

that you need to know so these three

plus this one

and this equation only when an object is

moving at constant speed

when it's moving with constant

acceleration you can use these four

equations so let's start with this

problem

a ball is dropped from rest on a cliff

what is the speed of the ball five

seconds later

so let's say this is the cliff

and here is the ball

so it falls down but we don't know if it

hits the ground at this point

we just want to find the speed five

seconds later

so it's important to make a list of what

you have

and the variable that you need to find

what is the initial speed of the

baldness problem

notice that the ball is dropped from

rest so the initial speed is zero

our goal is to find the final speed

now we know the time the time is 5

seconds

and the acceleration due to gravity is

negative 9.8

the acceleration due to gravity is in a

negative y direction

so that's why it's negative so what

equation

that was listed earlier has these four

variables

the equation that we need is this one v

final is equal to v initial

plus a t the initial is zero

the acceleration is negative nine point

eight

and t is five

so negative nine point eight times five

is negative 45

i mean not 45 but 49

so now let's go back to the question

what is the speed of the ball five

seconds later

now think about your answer

the answer the speed

is positive 49 meters per second

remember speed cannot be negative

so you got to make it positive so this

is the answer for part a

now part b what is the velocity of the

ball at this time

the velocity is negative so that's the

velocity right there

it's negative 49 meters per second

because the ball is moving in the

negative y

direction velocity is negative remember

velocity is a vector quantity

speed is scalar

now let's move on to part c how far does

it travel
during this time

what equation do you think we need to

use

one equation that can help us define it

is this one d is equal to v initial

t plus one half a t

squared we already have the initial

speed we know the time and we have the

acceleration

so we have enough information to use

this equation

so v initial is zero zero times t is

just going to be zero

acceleration is negative nine point

eight and t

is five so half

of negative nine point eight that's

negative four point nine

if you multiply that by 5 squared

that will give you a value of negative

122.5 meters

now what does this answer represent

that answer is not the distance traveled

but rather

it's the displacement this is the answer

for part d

remember displacement is a vector like

velocity it can be negative or positive

because the object moves in the negative

y direction
the displacement is negative but to

answer part c

how far does it travel during this time

part c is not looking for the

displacement

it's looking for the distance traveled

the distance

is simply positive 122.5

whenever an object moves in one

direction if it doesn't change direction

if it moves straight the distance and

displacement

they have the same value they have the

same magnitude but the signs may be

different depending on what direction

it's going

but anytime you have an object that's

moving in a straight line

the distance and displacement have the

same numerical value

just the signs might be different so

that's it for this problem

number two a ball is thrown downward

at an initial speed of 15 meters per

second

from the top of a cliff what is the

speed and velocity

of the ball eight seconds later

so this problem is similar to the last

problem

only one key difference the ball is not

released from rest rather

it's drove down with an initial speed

and that initial speed is 15 meters per

second

but let's use the initial velocity when

dealing with this equation

so we're going to use a negative 15

meters per second because it's going in

the negative y direction

our goal is to find the speed and

velocity eight seconds later

so we need to find the final velocity

the time is 8 seconds

and the acceleration is still negative

9.8

so let's use the same equation to find

the final velocity

so the initial velocity is negative 15

plus

the acceleration of negative 9.8

multiplied by the time

of 8 seconds

negative 9.8 times 8 that's

negative 78.4

so negative 15 plus negative 78.4

that's negative 93.4

meters per second

so this is the final velocity eight

seconds later

the speed eight seconds later is simply

positive

93.4 that's it you just gotta change the

sign

just remember speed is always positive

now let's find the displacement and also

the distance that it travels

so let's use the same equation as the

first example

so d is equal to v initial t plus one

half

a t squared so v initial this time

is negative 15 and t is eight

the acceleration is negative nine point

eight

and we're going to plug in eight for t

again so negative fifteen times eight

that's

negative 120 half of negative 9.8 is

negative 4.9 so negative 4.9 times

8 squared

that's negative 313.6

so when adding these two together

you should get negative 433.6 meters

so this is the displacement

of the ball during these eight seconds

now the distance that it travels is

positive
433.6 meters

so that's the distance that it travels

all you need to do is just make the

answer positive

number three a stone is dropped from the

top of the building

and hits the ground five seconds later

how tall

is the building so let's start with a

picture

so let's say that's the building

and the stone is dropped from the top of

a building

our goal is to find the height

of the building

the height of the building is basically

the distance that the ball travels

until it hits the ground so if we could

find the distance that it travels we

could find the height of the building

now what equation should we use

in order to find out which equation to

use we need to make a list

of everything that we have

now it didn't say the stone is thrown

down

so therefore if the stone is dropped

from the top of a building

we know it's dropped from rest which

means the initial speed

is zero we don't know what the final

speed is

but we do have the time and we know the

acceleration

for any object in free fall any object

that's fallen

under the influence of gravity this

acceleration will always be

the same value in the y direction

so our goal is to find d in the y

direction which is the same as the

height

so once again we could use this equation

d is equal to v initial t

plus one half a t squared

but because v initial is zero

we don't need this portion of the

equation so therefore

the height of the building which we can

replace with the displacement

the height of the building is going to

be just one half a t squared

for those of you who just want a simple

formula uh to find this answer

i'm going to use d in this example

a is negative 9.8 t

is 5. so negative 4.9

which is half of 9.8 times 5 squared

that's negative 122.5

meters so keep in mind that's the

displacement of the ball

so what that means is that the ball

travels 122.5 meters

down before it hits the ground so

therefore the height of the building

is the same but you don't need to

describe the height of the building

using a negative number all you need to

say is

is that um the building is 122.5 meters

tall

you don't have to say negative 122.5

that's not going to make any sense

so this is the height of the building

so now that you know how to do the last

problem go ahead and try this one

a stone is thrown downward from the top

of a cliff at 24 meters per second

and hits the ground seven seconds later

how tall is the cliff

so to no longer release from rest but

someone just throws it down

so therefore we know that this is an

initial speed

which is 24 but we're going to use the

initial velocity

which is negative 24 meters per second

we have the time it takes for it to hit

the ground that's seven seconds

the acceleration in the y direction is

still negative 9.8

meters per second squared our goal

is to find the height of the cliff so

basically we just need to find the

displacement of the ball

so let's use the same formula d is equal

to v initial t

plus one half a t squared this time

we need this portion of the equation so

v initial is negative 24

t is seven a

is the same and now let's go ahead and

find the answer

negative 24 times 7 that's negative 168

and negative 4.9 times 7 squared

that's about negative 240.1

so the displacement of the ball is

negative 408.1 meters

so what this means is that the ball

travels 408.1 meters in a negative y

direction

that's why it's negative but the

distance traveled

which is the height of the cliff that's

positive

408.1 meters

and that's the answer a rock

is released from rest on a 700 meter

building

how long does it take to hit the ground

what is the speed and velocity of the

ball

just before it hits the ground well

let's start with a picture

so this time we're given the height of

the building

and initially we need to find out how

long

does it take to hit the ground so we got

to find the time

let's make a list of what we have the

rock is released from rest so the

initial speed is zero

we have the acceleration in the y

direction that's negative 9.8

we're looking for the time

but we do have the displacement the

displacement in the y

direction is not positive 700

but it's a negative 700

because the ball is moving in the

negative y direction

so let's use this equation d is equal to

v initial t

plus one half a t squared

now d is negative seven hundred

v initial fortunately zero so we can

avoid using the quadratic equation

the acceleration is negative 9.8 so now

all we got to do is find t

so half of 9.8 is 4.9

now to isolate t squared let's divide

both sides by negative 4.9

so negative 700 divided by negative 4.9

is 142.86

and it's positive so now let's take the

square root of both sides

so t i'm gonna write it right here

is 11.95 seconds

so that's how long it takes

for the rock to hit the ground

now what about part b

how can we find the speed and velocity

of the ball

just before it hits the ground

so we're looking for vf in this case

we have the initial speed we have the

acceleration and we have the time

so therefore we can use this familiar

equation

v final is equal to v initial plus a t

so v initial is zero the acceleration

is negative 9.8 and we now have the time

which is 11.95 seconds

negative 9.8 times 11.95

that's negative 117.1

meters per second so this is the

velocity of the wall

just before it hits the ground the speed

of the ball

before it hits the ground it's the same

number

but positive it's positive 117.1

meters per second so these are the two

answers

to part b

you