How Does a Rolling Ball's Velocity Change with Constant Acceleration?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving a rolling ball with an initial velocity of -1.5 m/s and a constant acceleration of -0.23 m/s². Participants are exploring how the ball's velocity changes over a time interval of 2.2 seconds, as well as calculating average velocity and displacement during this period.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the calculation of final velocity using the formula for constant acceleration. There is uncertainty regarding how to determine displacement for calculating average velocity. Some participants express confusion about the necessary formulas and how to apply them to find displacement and average velocity.

Discussion Status

Some guidance has been offered regarding the use of kinematic equations and the relationship between average velocity and initial and final velocities. However, multiple interpretations of the problem and the necessary calculations are being explored, with no explicit consensus reached on the best approach.

Contextual Notes

Participants are grappling with the implications of negative velocity and the definitions of displacement in the context of the problem. There is a noted lack of clarity on how to apply the formulas for average velocity and displacement, which may be influenced by imposed homework rules or assumptions about the problem setup.

Jess048
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Question: A rolling ball has an initial velocity of -1.5 m/s.
a. If the ball has a constant acceleration of -0.23 m/s^2, what is its velocity after 2.2s?
b. What was its average velocity during that time interval?
c. How far did it travel in this time interval?

So far i got:
a. V= initial velocity + acceleration(time)
(-1.5m/s) + (-0.23m/s^2)(2.2s)=-2.006m/s

b. i know the formula for average velocity V= (d2- d1) / (t2 -t1). My problem is I'm not sure what to plug in for displacement. for time i plugged in 2.2s -0s this is where i am stuck.

c. I am not sure of the formula to solve this part.
 
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Calculate displacement using simple kinematic relations.

Use v2 you calculated above.

You need not pay much attention to the negative sign given in velocity.it only indicated that the velocity is in the backward direction as from the general Cartesian conventions.
don't plug in the negative sign to get the value of velocity.

For next part you can use simple kinematic equations.

v[initial]= 1.5m/s
accln= -.23 m/s^2
 
Last edited:
Sry, but this still leaves me with the same problem I already figured out question a. I know the formula for question b, but my problem is I don't know what to put for displacement. How would i figure out d1 and d2 in the formula. For question c I am not sure how to solve this question so how would i begin.
 
Jess048 said:
Question: A rolling ball has an initial velocity of -1.5 m/s.
a. If the ball has a constant acceleration of -0.23 m/s^2, what is its velocity after 2.2s?
b. What was its average velocity during that time interval?
c. How far did it travel in this time interval?

So far i got:
a. V= initial velocity + acceleration(time)
(-1.5m/s) + (-0.23m/s^2)(2.2s)=-2.006m/s

b. i know the formula for average velocity V= (d2- d1) / (t2 -t1). My problem is I'm not sure what to plug in for displacement. for time i plugged in 2.2s -0s this is where i am stuck.

c. I am not sure of the formula to solve this part.

If you figure out c, you'll have calculated d2-d1.

I'm surprised you'd know the equation you used in a without knowing the equation for determining your position. The equation you used in a is just the derivative of your equation for position: s_f = s_i + v_i t + 1/2 a t^2
 
Jess048 said:
i know the formula for average velocity V= (d2- d1) / (t2 -t1). My problem is I'm not sure what to plug in for displacement.

Hi Jess048! :smile:

You don't need displacement for this part.

For constant acceleration, the formula for average velocity is also (Vi + Vf)/2 … in other words, it's the average of the initial and final velocity.

The formulas do give the same result:

(df - di)/(tf - ti) = (atf^2/2 - ati^2/2)/(tf - ti) = (atf + ati)/2 = (Vf + Vi)/2. :smile:
 

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