A stone is dropped from a bridge 45 meters above the surface of a river. It takes the stone 4.6 seconds to reach the water's surface. Find the average velocity of the falling stone.

v=s/t, or v=45m/4.6s, making v=9.8m/s, including significant figures

Answered by ttstreb | 2024-06-10

The most interesting thing about this problem is that in order to use all of the given information, you need to ignore the laws of Physics, and never mind what the stone would really do if dropped from a real bridge in the real world.
Average velocity = (displacement) / (time for the displacement)
Displacement = Straight path from the start point to the finish point = 45 meters down . Time = 4.6 seconds
Average velocity = 45/4.6 = 9.783 meters/second down
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In the real world, a dropped stone would only take 3.03 seconds to fall 45 meters.
Alternatively, a stone that fell for 4.6 seconds from rest would fall 103.7 meters, with an average velocity of 22.5 meters/second down.
But we accepted the given information, and did the best we could do with it.

Answered by AL2006 | 2024-06-10

The average velocity of the stone falling from a height of 45 meters over a time period of 4.6 seconds is approximately 9.8 m/s downward. This is calculated using the formula for average velocity, which divides the total distance fallen by the time taken. Therefore, the average velocity provides a measure of the stone's speed during its fall.
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Answered by ttstreb | 2024-10-01