Gr

oup2Handout
I
ntr
oduc
tiont
oFr
eeFal
l
Afr
eefal
l
ingobj
ecti
sanobj ectthatisf
all
i
ngunderthesolei
nfl
uenceofgr
avi
ty.
Anyobjec
tthat
i
sbei
ngactedupononlybyt heforceofgr
avit
yissai
dtobeinas t
ateoffr
eef
all
.Ther
earetwo
i
mport
antmoti
oncharacter
isti
csthataretr
ueoffr
ee-f
all
i
ngobjects
:
-
Free-
fal
l
ingobj
ect
sdonotenc
ount
erai
rres
ist
anc
e.
-Al
lf
ree-f
all
i
ngobj
ect
s(onEar
th)accel
eratedownwardsatarat
eof9.
8m/
s/s(
oft
en
approx
imatedas1
0m/ s
/sf
orback-
of-t
he-envel
opecal
cul
ati
ons)
Ki
nemat
icEquat
ionsandFr
eeFal
l
Af r
ee-f
all
ingobj ectisanobjectthatisf al
l
ingunderthesoleinfl
uenc eofgravit
y.Thatistosay
thatanyobj ectthatismovingandbei ngac tedupononlybet heforceofgr avi
tyissai
dtobe" ina
stat
eoffreef all
.
"Suc hanobj ectwil
lex peri
enceadownwar daccelerati
onof9.8m/ s/s
.Whet her
theobjectisfall
i
ngdownwar dorr i
si
ngupwar dtowardsi
tspeak ,
ifitisunderthesoleinf
luenceof
gravi
ty,t
heni tsacc el
erat
ionvalueis9.8m/ s
/s.
Li
keanymovingobj
ect
,themoti
onofanobjecti
nfreef
all
canbedescr
ibedbyf
ourk
inemat
ic
equat
ions
.Theki
nemat
icequat
ionst
hatdes
c r
ibeanyobj
ect'
smot
ionare:

Thesymbol
sintheaboveequati
onhaveas pec
ifi
cmeaning:
thesymbolds
tandsforthe
di
spl
acement;t
hesymbol ts
tandsf
ortheti
me;thesymbolastandsf
ort
heaccel
erati
onofthe
obj
ect;t
hesymbolvi
standsfort
heini
ti
alvel
oci
tyval
ue;andthesymbol
vfst
andsforthefi
nal
vel
oci
ty.
Appl
yi
ngFr
eeFal
lConc
ept
stoPr
obl
em-
Sol
vi
ng
Ther
eareafewconceptualc
haract
eri
sti
csoffr
eefal
lmoti
ont
hatwill
beofval
uewhenus
ingt
he
equat
ionst
oanal
yzefreefal
lmoti
on.Theseconcept
sar
edesc
ribedasfol
l
ows:
-Anobjec
tinfreef
all
experi
encesanaccel
erat
ionof-
9.8m/
s/s
.(The-signindi
cat
esadownwar
d
accel
erat
ion.
)Whetherexpl
i
cit
lystat
edornot,
theval
ueoft
heac cel
erati
onintheki
nemat
ic
equati
onsis-
9.8m/s/
sforanyfreel
yfal
l
ingobj
ect.
-
Ifanobj
ecti
smerel
ydr
opped(
asoppos
edt
obei
ngt
hrown)f
rom anel
evat
edhei
ght
,thent
he
i
nit
ial
vel
oci
tyoft
heobj
ecti
s0m/s
.
-I
fanobj
ec tisproj
ectedupwardsinaperf
ectl
yvert
icaldir
ect
ion,
thenitwills
lowdownasi tri
ses
upward.
Thei nstantatwhic
hitreachest
hepeakofitstraj
ect
ory,i
tsveloc
ityis0m/s
.Thisvalue
canbeus edasoneoft hemoti
onpar ameter
sinthekinemati
cequations;f
orexampl
e,thefinal
vel
oci
ty(vf)aft
ertravel
ingt
othepeakwoul dbeassi
gnedaval ueof0m/ s.
-I
fanobjecti
sproject
edupwardsinaperfectl
yvert
icaldir
ect
ion,thenthevel
ocit
yatwhi
chi ti
s
proj
ect
edisequal i
nmagni t
udeandoppos i
teinsi
gntot heveloc
itythati
thaswhenitr
eturnsto
thesameheight.Thatis,
aball
proj
ectedverti
cal
l
ywi thanupwar dveloci
tyof+30m/swil
lhavea
downwar dvel
ocityof-30m/swhenitret
urnstothesamehei ght.
Thes
ef ourpr
inc
ipl
esandthefourk
inemati
cequat
ionsc
anbec
ombi
nedt
osol
vepr
obl
ems
i
nvol
vingthemot i
onoff
reefal
li
ngobjec
ts.
Sampl
ePr
obl
em:
LukeAutbel
oedropsapi
leofr
oofshi
nglesfr
om thetopofaroofl
ocated8.
52met
ersabovet
he
ground.
Determi
netheti
merequi
redfortheshi
nglestor
eachtheground.
Thes oluti
ont othispr oblem begi nsbyt hec ons tructionofani nformat i
vedi agr am oft hephys i
cal
sit
uat i
on. Thisiss hownbel ow. Thes econds tepi nvol vest hei dentif
icati
onandl is
tingofk nown
i
nformat ioni nvar iableform. Youmi ghtnot ethati nt hes t
at ementoft hepr oblem, t
her eisonly
onepi eceofnumer i
c ali
nformat i
onex plici
tlystat ed: 8.52met ers.Thedi splacement( d)oft he
shinglesis- 8.52m. (
The-s i
gni ndicatest hatt hedi spl ac ementi sdownwar d).Ther emai ning
i
nformat ionmus tbeex t
ract edf r
omt hepr oblem s tat ementbas eduponyourunder standi ngof
theabovepr i
nci
pl es.Forex ampl e, t
hevi valuec anbei nferr edtobe0m/ ssincet hes hinglesare
dropped( releasedf romr est; seenot eabove) .Andt heac celerati
on( a)oft hes hinglesc anbe
i
nferredt obe- 9.8m/ s2si
nc et hes hinglesar efree-fal l
ing( seenot eabove) .(
Alwayspayc aref
ul
attentiont ot he+and-s ignsf ort hegi venquant it
ies.)Thenex ts t
epoft hes oluti
oni nvolvesthe
l
isti
ngoft heunk nown( ordes ired)informat i
oni nvar i
abl efor m.Inthisc ase,thepr obl
em r equests
i
nformat ionaboutt het i
meoff all
.Soti stheunk nownquant i
ty.Ther esultsoft hef i
rstthreesteps
ares howni nt het ablebelow.
.
Given: Fi
nd:
t=?
?
vi
=0.
0m/
s
d=-
8.52m.
a=-9.
8m/
s2
Therearefourki
nemati
cequat i
onstochoosefr
om. I
ngener al
,youwil
lalwayschoosethe
equati
onthatcontai
nsthethreeknownandt heoneunk nownvar i
abl
e.Inthi
sspeci
fi
cc as
e,the
threeknownvari
ablesandtheoneunk nownvariabl
ear ed,vi
,a,andt.Thus,
youwilll
ookforan
equati
onthathasthesefourvari
ablesl
i
stedini
t.Aninspecti
onofthefourequati
onsabove
reveal
sthattheequati
onont hetopcontai
nsal
lfourvariabl
es.
d=vi
•t+½•a•t
2
Oncetheequat
ioni
sident
if
iedandwri
tt
endown,thenexts
tepinvol
vessubs
tit
uti
ngknown
val
uesint
otheequat
ionandusingpr
operal
gebr
aicst
epstosol
vefortheunknowninf
ormat
ion.
Thi
sstepi
sshownbelow
-
8.52m=(
0m/
s)•(
t)+½•(
-9.
8m/
s2)•(
t)
2
-
8.52m=(
0m)*
(t)+(
-4.
9m/
s2)•(
t)
2
-
8.52m=(
-4.
9m/
s2)•(
t)
2
(
-8.
52m)
/(
-4.
9m/
s2)=t
2
1
.739s
2=t
2
t=1
.32s
Thes ol
uti
onabover
eveal
sthatt
hes
hingl
eswi
l
lfal
lf
orat
imeof1
.32s
econdsbef
orehi
tt
ingt
he
ground

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as
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aca