Hewitt Chapter 3 (2nd half) Note Outline

Mrs. Corey Conceptual Physics

Free Fall
How Fast (v)
Gravity causes acceleration.

Name___________________________
Period___________

Elapsed Time (sec) Instantaneous Speed (m/s)

0

10

Free Fall: (no air resistance)

g = 9.8 m/s2 or 10 m/s2

a = g = change in velocity
time interval

10t

If falling from rest,

velocity = acceleration x time
v=gt
Check Point. What would the speedometer reading on a falling rock be 4.5 seconds after it drops
from rest?
How about 8 seconds after it is dropped?

What about an object thrown upward? Deceleration is also g (10 m/s2)

Check Point. A ball is thrown straight upward and leaves your hand at 20 m/s. What predictions
can you make about the ball?

How Far?

(Distance something has fallen.)

D (distance) = gt2

g acceleration of gravity (10 m/s2)

t time (sec)

Check Point. What is the distance (at 2 seconds) that an object in free fall has fallen?

Check Point. An apple drops from a tree and hits the ground in seconds.
a) What is its speed upon striking the ground?

b) What is its average speed during the 1/2 second?

c) How high above the ground was it when it first dropped?

Air Resistance
Air ____________________ the motion of some (light, spread out) objects more than heavy,
compact objects.

How Quickly How Fast Changes

How Fast?

V = gt

How Far?

Acceleration (rate of a rate) rate at which velocity changes

D = gt2

ASSIGNMENT
Review Questions
18. What exactly is meant by a freely falling object?
19. What is the gain in speed per second for a freely falling object?
20. What is the velocity acquired by a freely falling object 5 s after being dropped from a rest
position?
What is the velocity 6 s after?

22. When an object is thrown upward, how much speed does it lose each second?
24. What is the distance fallen for a freely falling object 1 s after being dropped from a rest
position?
What is it 4 s after?

25. What is the effect of air resistance on the acceleration of falling objects?
What is the acceleration with no air resistance?

26. Consider these measurements: 10 m, 10 m/s, and 10 m/s2. Which is a measure of distance,
which of speed, and which of acceleration?

Plug and Chug

16. Calculate the instantaneous speed of an apple that falls freely from a rest position and
accelerates at 10 m/s2 for 1.5 s.

18. A skydiver steps from a high-flying helicopter. In the absence of air resistance, how fast
would she be falling at the end of a 12-s jump?

19. On a distant planet, a freely falling object has an acceleration of 20 m/s2. Calculate the
speed that an object dropped from rest on this planet acquires in 1.5 s.

20. An apple drops from a tree and hits the ground in 1.5 s. Calculate how far it falls.

22. On a distant planet a freely falling object has an acceleration of 20 m/s2. Calculate the
vertical distance an object dropped from rest on this planet covers in 1.5 s.

Ranking
2. A track is made of a piece of channel iron bent as shown. A ball released at the left end of the
track continues past the various points. Rank the speed of the ball at points A, B, C, and D, from
fastest to slowest. (Watch for tie scores.)

4. Three balls of different masses are thrown straight upward with initial speeds as indicated.
a. From fastest to slowest, rank the speeds of
the balls 1 s after being thrown.

b. From greatest to least, rank the accelerations

of the balls 1 s after being thrown.

Exercises
22. Which is greater, an acceleration from 25 km/h to 30 km/h or one from 96 km/h to 100 km/h
for 100 s? Explain (calculate the accelerations).

25. Suppose that a freely falling object were somehow equipped with a speedometer. By how
much would its reading in speed increase with each second of fall?
26. Suppose that the freely falling object in the preceding exercise were also equipped with an
odometer. Would the readings of distance fallen each second indicate equal or different falling
distances for successive seconds?

27. For a freely falling object dropped from rest, what is the acceleration at the end of the fifth
second of fall?
At the end of the tenth second of fall?

30. Someone standing at the edge of a cliff throws a ball nearly straight up at a certain speed and
another ball nearly straight down with the same initial speed. If air resistance is negligible,
which ball will have the greater speed when it strikes the ground?

38. As speed increases for an object in free fall, does acceleration increase also?
Problems
1. You toss a ball straight up with an initial speed of 30 m/s. How high does it go, and how long
is it in the air (neglecting air resistance)?

2. A ball is tossed with enough speed straight up so that it is in the air several seconds.
a) What is the velocity of the ball when it reaches its highest point?
b) What is the velocity 1 s before it reaches its highest point?
c) What is the change in its velocity during this 1-s interval?
d) What is its velocity 1 s after it reaches its highest point?
e) What is the change in velocity during this 1-s interval?
f) What is the change in velocity during the 2-s interval? (Careful!)
g) What is the acceleration of the ball during any of these time intervals and at the moment the
ball has zero velocity?

3. What is the instantaneous velocity of a freely falling object 10 s after it is released from a
position of rest?
What is its average velocity during this 10-s interval?
How far will it fall during this time?