- #1
Nickg140143
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Homework Statement
A hot air ballonist rising verticlly at a constant velocity "vb", releases a sandbag at the instant the sandbag is "h" meters above the ground. Given [vb,h] Determine:
a. The time for the sandbag to hit the ground
b. The speed of the sandbag just before hitting the ground.
c. The maximum height the sandbag attains above the earth.
Homework Equations
v=v0+at (velocity as a function of time)
x=x0+v0t+(1/2)at2 (displacement as a function of time)
v2=v20+2aΔx (velocity as a function of displacement)
The Attempt at a Solution
I believe that I'm having trouble setting up my problem correctly. Here are the givens:
If the coordinate system is set so that the ground is 0, and the sandbags position after being let go is h
x0=h? (starting position) not too sure about this one
x1=0 (ending position)
v0=vb (starting velocity)
v1=? (ending velocity)
a=-g (acceleration) since its heading towards the ground?
t= (time) time it hits the ground (when x1=0)
So before I go any further, does anyone see any problems with this?
I'm aware that the sandbag will travel just a bit farther up after being dropped from the
balloon, and that its velocity should be 0 at the peak of its height (right?).
However, this leads me to ponder whether or not the starting position should be adjusted
or stay as h.
I've been stuck on this problem in my homework for 3 days, and there are 7 more problems after it 0__0. whether that homework becomes finished now is irrelevant, I feel my time is best spent understanding how to pull this off.