Golf Ball Question: How Far Does It Travel?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the total distance a golf ball travels after being hit at 40 m/s at a 45-degree angle, with a 75% speed reduction on each bounce. The participant struggles with applying kinematics equations due to the lack of time and acceleration data. The correct approach involves using the kinematic equations iteratively to calculate the distance for each bounce until the ball comes to a stop, factoring in the gravitational acceleration of -9.8 m/s².

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  • Understanding of vector components in physics
  • Basic knowledge of gravitational acceleration (-9.8 m/s²)
  • Concept of geometric series for summing distances
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Homework Statement



A golf ball is hit from the freeway at a speed of 40 m/s and an angle of 45 degrees. Upon hitting the ground the ball bounces off the ground at the same angle but loses 75% of its speed on each bounce. How far does the ball travel before stopping?

Homework Equations



Kinematics equations

The Attempt at a Solution



First, I tried breaking the problem into components. Then I realized both x- and y- components of velocity are the same. I'm stuck because I can't exactly sub values into the kinematics equations to find displacement, seeing that I'm not given acceleration nor time.

Any sort of help/hint would be greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
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If a = -9.8 m/s^2, then I'd be able to calculate dy... so would I have to repeat this calculation until v2 = 0 and add up all the displacements? Or is there an simpler method?
 

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