Force, acceleration, gravity question

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the maximum height a 60 g ball reaches when fired vertically from a 5.3 m tall tube using compressed air that exerts an upward force of 3.3 N. The initial calculations attempted to find the ball's acceleration and subsequent height using kinematic equations, but the results were incorrect. A key point raised is the need to consider the net force acting on the ball, which includes accounting for gravity. Despite adjusting calculations for net force, the user still receives incorrect answers from the program being used for input. The conversation highlights the importance of correctly applying physics principles to solve the problem accurately.
Kristin
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Hi, I've been working on my homework assignment, and there are a couple tricky questions that I hope someone can give me a few pointers on.

Question:
Compressed air is used to fire a 60 g ball vertically upward from a 5.3 m tall tube. The air exerts an upward force of 3.3 N on the ball as long as it is in the tube. How high does the ball go above the top of the tube?

I have tried a few things:
First, I tried finding the acceleration in the tube and then using that to find the speed at the end of the tube.

F=ma
a=55.0m/s/s
then vf^2=vi^2+2a*d
vf= 17.38 m/s

Then to find height, I used vf^2=vi^2+2a*d with vf from the tube as the new vi, and vf=0 because it's at the max height.
Using 0=17.38^2+2(-9.8)d
d=15.41 m (which is incorrect)

I also tried d=.5*gt^2 and got d=35m (also incorrect)

If anyone can give me a better direction, I would be very greatful,
 
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Kristin said:
I have tried a few things:
First, I tried finding the acceleration in the tube and then using that to find the speed at the end of the tube.

F=ma
a=55.0m/s/s
To find the acceleration, first find the net force on the ball. (You forgot about gravity.)
 
That makes sense, but following the same steps using net force as applied-gravity (net force= 2.712N), I get d to be 24.4 m, which is still not the correct answer.
 
That's the answer I get. (Your method is fine.)
 
The program that I am imputing the answers into still tells me that I don't have the correct answer, so I think that it might be missing something still.
 
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