Question

A pair of glasses is dropped from the top of a 32.0m stadium. A pen is dropped 2.Os later. How high above the ground is the pen when the spectacles hit the ground? Neglect the air resistance.

Answer 1

Answer:

$h_p = 30.46\ m$

Explanation:

Free Fall Motion

A free-falling object refers to an object that is falling under the sole influence of gravity. If the object is dropped from a certain height h, it moves downwards until it reaches ground level.

The speed vf of the object when a time t has passed is given by:

$v_f=g\cdot t$

Where $g = 9.8 m/s^2$

Similarly, the distance y the object has traveled is calculated as follows:

$\displaystyle y=\frac{g\cdot t^2}{2}$

If we know the height h from which the object was dropped, we can solve the above equation for t:

$\displaystyle t=\sqrt{\frac{2\cdot y}{g}}$

The stadium is h=32 m high. A pair of glasses is dropped from the top and reaches the ground at a time:

$\displaystyle t_1=\sqrt{\frac{2\cdot 32}{9.8}}=2.56\ sec$

The pen is dropped 2 seconds after the glasses. When the glasses hit the ground, the pen has been falling for:

$t_2=2.56 - 2 = 0.56\ sec$

Therefore, it has traveled down a distance:

$\displaystyle y=\frac{9.8\cdot 0.56^2}{2} = 1.54\ m$

Thus, the height of the pen is:

$h_p = 32 - 1.54\Rightarrow h_p=30.46\ m$