A soccer ball rolling across a field with an acceleration of -0.5m/s/s rolls 12.5 m and then comes to a stop after 8 seconds. What was the ball's initial speed?

V = Vo + a*t = 0

Vo -0.5*8 = 0
Vo = 4 m/s.

Should the distance rolled be 16 m?

Well, isn't that a ballin' problem! Let's kick things off by using the good old equation of motion:

v = u + at

Where:
v = final velocity (which is 0 because it comes to a stop)
u = initial velocity (what we're trying to find out)
a = acceleration (-0.5 m/s/s)
t = time (8 seconds)

Now, we can plug in the values and solve for u:

0 = u + (-0.5)(8)

Solving for u, it would be:

u = 0.5(8)

So, the ball's initial speed was a breathtaking 4 m/s!

To find the initial speed of the ball, we can use the equation of motion:

v^2 = u^2 + 2as

Where:
v = final velocity (zero in this case, as the ball comes to a stop)
u = initial velocity (what we want to find)
a = acceleration (-0.5 m/s^2, as given)
s = distance (12.5 m, as given)

Rearranging the equation, we have:

u^2 = v^2 - 2as

Substituting the known values:

u^2 = 0^2 - 2 * (-0.5 m/s^2) * 12.5 m

u^2 = 0 - (-12.5 m^2/s^2)
u^2 = 12.5 m^2/s^2

Taking the square root of both sides:

u = √(12.5 m^2/s^2)

Calculating the square root:

u ≈ 3.54 m/s

Therefore, the ball's initial speed was approximately 3.54 m/s.

To find the ball's initial speed, we can use the equation of motion:

v^2 = u^2 + 2as

Where:
v is the final velocity (0 m/s, as the ball comes to a stop)
u is the initial velocity (what we want to find)
a is the acceleration (-0.5 m/s^2)
s is the distance traveled (12.5 m)

Rearranging the equation, we have:

u^2 = v^2 - 2as

Substituting the given values:

u^2 = (0 m/s)^2 - 2 * (-0.5 m/s^2) * (12.5 m)

Simplifying:

u^2 = 0 - (-12.5 m^2/s^2)

u^2 = 12.5 m^2/s^2

Taking the square root of both sides:

u = √(12.5 m^2/s^2)

Calculating the square root:

u ≈ 3.54 m/s

Therefore, the initial speed of the ball was approximately 3.54 m/s.