Kinematics: Motion Along a Straight

Line
Free-fall Motion
Target Competency:
• Use the fact that the magnitude of
acceleration due to gravity on the Earth’s
surface is nearly constant and
approximately 9.8 m/s2 in free-fall problems
• Solve problems involving free-fall motion.
Let’s watch the following film clips…
Dracula Untold
Amazing Spiderman
Questions:

1. What did you see in the film clips?

2. Based on Physics and free-fall motion,

which do you think shows a more accurate
scene?
- Can the girl be saved or not?
Introduction
The Greek philosopher Aristotle gave one of the
earliest and most comprehensive attempts at a
scientific explanation of this behavior , free fall, by
putting forth the idea that objects moved toward
their "natural place."
Introduction
Galileo performed many systematic experiments
with objects moving on inclined planes.

Galileo was able to draw mathematical

conclusions about freely falling objects

Galileo’s achievements in the science of

mechanics paved the way for Newton in his
development of the laws of motion
Acceleration due to Gravity
A freely falling object is any object moving
freely under the influence of gravity alone,
regardless of its initial motion.
Objects thrown upward or downward and those
released from rest are all considered freely
falling.
We denote the magnitude of the free-fall
acceleration by the symbol g.
Acceleration due to Gravity
The value of g decreases with increasing
altitude, and varies slightly with latitude as well.

Convention:
Up : g = - 9.8 m/s2
Down: g = 9.8 m/s2
Acceleration due to Gravity
Why 9.8 m/s2 ?
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 ( Newton’s Second Law)
𝐺𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹= 2 (Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation)
𝑟

𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠:

𝐺𝑚𝑀
𝑚𝑔 = 2
𝑟
Acceleration due to Gravity
𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠:
𝐺𝑚𝑀
𝑚𝑔 = 2
𝑟
3
𝑚
𝐺 = 6.67408 × 10−11 2
𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑘𝑔𝑠
𝑀 = 5.98 × 1024 𝑘𝑔 (𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ)
𝑟 = 6.38 × 106 𝑚 (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ)
Working Formula:
Equations for horizontal motion with constant
acceleration can be applied:
Horizontal Motion Free-fall/Vertical Motion
𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡 𝑣 = 𝑣0 ± 𝑔𝑡
1 2 1 2
∆𝑥 = 𝑣0 𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 ∆𝑦 = 𝑣0 𝑡 ± 𝑔𝑡
2 2
𝑣 2 = 𝑣0 2 + 2𝑎∆𝑥 𝑣 2 = 𝑣0 2 ± 2𝑔∆𝑦
Example 1:
A stone is thrown from the top of a building with an initial
velocity of 20 m/s straight upward, at an initial height of 50m
above the ground. The stone just misses the edge of the roof
on its way down. Determine:
(a) the time needed for the stone to reach its maximum height
(b) the maximum height (with respect to the ground)
(c) the time needed for the stone to return to the height from
which it was thrown and the velocity of the stone at that
instant
(d) the time needed for the stone to reach the ground
Example 1:
Example 1:
Answers:
(a) 2.0408 sec
(b) 70.4082 m
(c) 4.0816 sec, 20 m/sec downward
(d) 5.8314 sec
Example 2
A rocket moves straight upward, starting from rest
with a constant acceleration of 29.4 m/s2. It runs
out of fuel at the end of 4.00 sec and continues to
coast upward, reaching a maximum height before
falling back to Earth.
Find the maximum height the rocket reaches.

Answers: 940.8 m
Example 2
Example 2
Going back to the films…
Based on Physics and free-fall motion, which do
you think shows a more accurate scene?
Quiz
1.What is the velocity of a stone thrown upward at its
maximum height?

2. A tennis player on serve tosses a ball straight up.

While the ball is in free fall, does its acceleration
(a) increase
(b) decrease
(c) increase and then decrease,
(d) decrease and then increase, or
(e) remain constant?
Quiz
3.As the tennis ball of no.2 travels through the air, does
its speed
(a) increase
(b) decrease
(c) decrease and then increase
(d) increase and then decrease or
(e) remain the same?
Quiz
4. A pebble is dropped from rest from the top of a tall
cliff and falls 4.9 m after 1.0 s has elapsed. How much
farther does it drop in the next 2.0 seconds? (a) 9.8 m
(b) 19.6 m
(c) 39 m
(d) 44 m
Quiz
5. What is the velocity of the pebble in no.4 after 1
sec?
(a) 9.8 m/s
(b) 19.6 m/s
(c) 39 m/s
(d) 44 m/s
Assignment
A ball starts from rest and rolls down a hill with uniform
acceleration, traveling 150 m during the second 5.0 s
of its motion. How far did it roll during the first 5.0 s of
motion?
Reference
Reference: College Physics by Serway et.al