1-D Motion: Free Falling Objects

Transcription

1 v (m/s) a (m/s^2) 1-D Motion: Free Falling Objects So far, we have only looked at objects moving in a horizontal dimension. Today, we ll look at objects moving in the vertical. Then, we ll look at both dimensions simultaneously. An object that is moving vertically through the air with no physical constraints on its motion is said to be in free fall. Freely falling objects have a constant acceleration directed toward the center of the Earth that is due only to the Earth s gravitational field. Free fall can exist on any planet (or moon, etc.), but we tend to focus on Earth. It is important to keep in mind that objects in free fall are always under a constant acceleration. We call the acceleration, The acceleration due to Earth s gravity. We use the letter g to represent it. The Acceleration Due to Earth s Gravity g = 9.80 m s 2 This number is valid if you are close to the Earth s surface (within a few thousand meters). In reality, this value decreases the farther you get from the Earth s surface, but we will treat it as a constant! We ll investigate this thought in more detail later in the course. Please note that g is a positive number! To better understand free fall, let s consider a ball that is tossed straight up, reaches a maximum height, and then lands back in the thrower s hand. We ll start by analyzing the acceleration over the time of the flight, because it s constant! If we define up as positive, then we know a = 9.80 m s2 = g. The a vs. t graph would look something like this (I made up some time values just for the sake of the example): t (s) The acceleration tells us that the v vs. t graph will be linear with a slope of This means that the velocity is always becoming more negative (increasing in the downward direction). The graph for our example, would look like this: t (s) Notes Page 1 of 7

2 y(m) Notice that the line passes through zero. This tells us that there is an instant in time where the ball is not moving. This happens at the apex or maximum height of its path! Even though the acceleration is constantly g, the velocity is still positive for a period of time (while the ball is going up!). Since the object is constantly accelerating, we should expect the y vs. t graph to be parabolic (and it is). The slope of the tangent lines will start off steep and level off to zero as the ball slows down on its way up. The tangent lines will become steeper in the negative direction as the ball speeds up on its way back down. For the graph below, I defined the point of catch and release to be a height of zero t (s) If we could use a camera that took pictures at equal time intervals and overlay the pictures on top of each other, we would see something like this (Obviously I separated the upward and downward paths): If we always define up (away from the Earth) as positive and let y represent the vertical position of an object, then we can rewrite the kinematics equations as follows. Notice, we replace x with y and use a = g. x = 1 2 at2 + v 0 t + x 0 v = at + v 0 v 2 = v a(x x 0 ) x = 1 2 at2 + vt + x 0 Δx = v t y = 1 2 gt2 + v 0 t + y 0 v = gt + v 0 v 2 = v 0 2 2g(y y 0 ) y = 1 2 gt2 + vt + y 0 Δy = v t Obviously if we defined down (toward the Earth) as positive, then a = g would be true and we d have to change our signs in the equations accordingly. NOTE: By assuming g is constant, we are ignoring the effects of air resistance! We have to do this because the mathematics behind air resistance require differential equations (which usually comes after Calculus 3). Notes Page 2 of 7

3 Symmetry If the initial and final heights of an object are the same (y = y 0 ), then the object rises and falls for an equal amount of time (t rise = t fall ). For these conditions to be met, the object must have an initial upward velocity. To see the symmetry of this situation graphically, look at the y vs. t graph on the previous page. Problems 1. In a moment of rage, you throw your physics book as high into the air as you can. What is the book s velocity when the book is at its highest possible point? What is the book s acceleration at this point? 2. At the end of the last Apollo 15 moon walk, Commander David Scott performed a live demonstration for the television cameras. He held out a geologic hammer and a feather and dropped them from the same height at the same time. Which object hit the ground first? (Note: There is virtually no atmosphere on the moon the moon exists in a near-vacuum.) 3. A tennis player on serve tosses the ball straight up before hitting it. What happens to the speed of the ball as it travels through the air? 4. In a fit of rebellion, two AP Physics students drop their physics books from the top of a tall building. Student A drops his book first and then Student B drops her book. Describe what happens to the distance between the two books while they are both still falling. (Hint: If you are struggling with this problem, create a table of some mock data for the velocity of each book at some various times.) Notes Page 3 of 7

4 5. In our pre-lab discussion for Lab 2, we dropped a ball from the same height of a person s head and timed how long it took for the ball to hit the ground. We then used the equation h = 4.9t 2 to estimate the person s height. (a) Show why this equation is valid for this scenario. (b) Suppose it took a ball 0.55 seconds to fall to the ground when dropped from the same height of a certain person. How tall is the person? (c) Mr. Scheithauer is approximately 1.88 m tall. If a ball was dropped from his height, how long would it take to strike the ground? 6. An arrow is shot straight upward at 100 m/s. (a) If air resistance is neglected, what is the maximum height the arrow would reach? (b) How long would the arrow be in the air? (c) Suppose the arrow was shot on the surface of Mars instead. How would the values for parts (a) and (b) compare on Mars to those calculated on Earth? (The acceleration due to gravity at the surface of Mars is approximately 3.7 m s 2. Notes Page 4 of 7

5 7. A sky diver is using a camera to film his jump. Near the end of his jump, when he is at a height of 50m and falling at a constant rate of 10 m/s, he accidentally drops his camera. (a) With what velocity does the camera strike the ground? (b) How many seconds does it take for the camera to strike the ground after it is dropped? (c) What if (for some bizarre reason) the sky diver threw the camera upward with an upward velocity of 10m/s (relative to the ground) and let the camera fall to the ground. How would the velocity that the camera struck the ground with compare to that of part (a)? How would the time of flight compare to that of part (b)? 8. A ball is thrown vertically upward with a speed of 25.0 m/s, rises to a maximum height, and then falls, eventually striking the ground.. (a) How high does the ball rise from its point of release? (b) How many seconds does it take for the ball to reach its highest position? (c) How many seconds does it take for the ball to strike the ground after it has reached its maximum height? (d) What is the ball s velocity when it returns to the same height from which it was released? 9. Two students are on a balcony that is a height h above the ground. They each throw a ball with an initial speed of v 0 ; one throws the ball upward and the other downward. (a) With what speed does each ball strike the ground? (b) Find the difference in the flight times of each ball. (c) Find an equation that describes the distance between the balls while they are both in the air. Answer each question in terms of v 0, g, h, and t. Notes Page 5 of 7

6 10. A model rocket is launched straight upward with an initial speed of 50.0 m/s. It accelerates upward at 2.00 m s 2 until it reaches an altitude of 150 m. (a) What is the maximum height reached by the rocket? (b) How long does it take for the rocket to reach this maximum height? (c) How long is the rocket in the air for? Notes Page 6 of 7

7 11. You are bored so you decide to execute a simple physics experiment. A friend drops an object from above a 1.5m-tall window in your house. Through video analysis, you find that the object travels from the top of the window to the bottom of the window in 0.14 seconds. How high above the top of the window was the object dropped? Notes Page 7 of 7