Calculating the Distance Traveled by a Falling Object on an Airplane

[waterwalker10]

Was given this problem as a homework assignment but I would like to solve it...just need a push in the right direction.

An airliner is cruising at a ground speed of 450 knots. A flight attendant, serving drinks, accidentally knocks a bottle off her cart. The distance from the top of the cart to the deck is 3.5 ft. Using the Earth as the frame of reference, how many feet does the bottle travel between the moment it falls off the cart, and when it hits the airplane's deck? Report your answer to the nearest three decimal places.


S = S_{0}+V_{0}t + (1/2)at^{2}

A = 2s/t^{2}

Maybe find the Hypotenuse?

Simply putting where do I begin. I would attempte this but I am not sure of how to start solving this problem...Help, maybe the correct equation...please?

 

[waterwalker10]

The distance of the bottle is 3.5 ft or 1.06 meters. With Earth as a reference point for gravitational pull, the bottle would take 0.46 seconds to hit the deck.

See referenced link.

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/AverageVelocity/index.html

 

[waterwalker10]

Here is what I came up with for the final answer! Hope this helps some in need...

A = 2*1.06 / 462 = 2.12/.2116 = 10.018 ft/s/s

450knots(0.46) = 450 knots * 1.15mph/1knot * 1.47ftps/1mph * (0.46s) = 333.27 ft

The plane traveled 333.27ft in .46 seconds.