PDA

View Full Version : Physics Homework Problem:Kinematics


shawonna23
Feb15-05, 04:40 PM
A car drives straight off the edge of a cliff that is 51 m high. The police at the scene of the accident note that the point of impact is 134 m from the base of the cliff. How fast was the car traveling when it went over the cliff?

I don't know where to begin with this problem. Can someone help me out please?

Galileo
Feb15-05, 04:54 PM
When the car rides off the cliff it will follow a parabolic path.
This is the result of two motions due to two velocity components:
A uniform velocity in the horizontal direction (no force acting horizontally).
A constant acceleration vertically (constant gravitational force acting downwards).

Set up the equations of motions for these directions and use the given data to solve for the speed of the car.