A ball was dropped off a cliff and took 3.09 s to fall to the water below. Neglecting air resistance, how fast (in m/s) was the ball moving just as it hit the water
To find the speed of the ball just as it hits the water, we can use the equation of motion for free fall:
v = gt
Where:
v is the final velocity (speed) of the object,
g is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately 9.8 m/s^2 near the surface of the Earth),
t is the time taken for the ball to fall.
In this case, since the ball was dropped from rest, the initial velocity is 0 m/s. So, plugging in the values we have:
v = 9.8 m/s^2 * 3.09 s = 30.282 m/s
Therefore, the ball was moving at a speed of approximately 30.282 m/s just as it hit the water.