A zombie steps off a 35-foot wall by mistake, landing in the river below. How long will it take the zombie to fall?
the zombie falls 16t^2 feet in t seconds. So, just solve for t:
16t^2 = 35
How did you get 16t^2?
it's the standard distance formula for a falling object. If you haven't learned that yet, it's time to review the section. No way they would have asked that question if you hadn't covered the topic.
To calculate the time it takes for an object to fall, we can use the equation for free fall:
distance = 0.5 * acceleration * time^2
Assuming the only force acting on the zombie is gravity, the acceleration due to gravity on Earth is approximately 32.2 feet per second squared (ft/s^2). In this case, the distance is 35 feet, so we can rearrange the equation to solve for time:
time = sqrt((2 * distance) / acceleration)
Substituting the given values:
time = sqrt((2 * 35) / 32.2)
Calculating this, we find:
time ≈ 1.42 seconds
Therefore, it will take the zombie approximately 1.42 seconds to fall from the 35-foot wall.