Projectile motion stunt doubles

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a projectile motion problem inspired by a scene from the movie Thelma and Louise, where a car is driven off a cliff. The cliff height is given as 50.0 m, and the goal is to determine the necessary horizontal speed for the car to land 90.0 m from the base of the cliff.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the time it takes for the car to fall using the height of the cliff, arriving at 5.1 seconds. They question the validity of this time and its implications for the horizontal distance traveled.
  • Several participants seek clarification on how the 5.1 seconds was calculated, indicating a focus on understanding the underlying physics.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants actively questioning the assumptions made regarding the time of fall and the calculations involved. There is no explicit consensus yet, but the engagement suggests a productive exploration of the problem.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating potential misunderstandings about the relationship between vertical and horizontal motion in projectile motion scenarios. The original poster expresses confusion about the expected answer and the calculations leading to it.

pinkfloyd12
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In the movie Thelma and Louise, the two actresses drove off a cliff at the end. In preparation for the scene, their stunt doubles determined that the cliff was 50.0 m high. The director wants the car to land 90.0 m from the base of the cliff close to the camera location. How fast must the car be traveling in order to land at this location? [101 km/h]

I found this question on the internet, I had been doing projectile questions all night with great success, however for some reason i can't seem to get 101km/hr for this question. It doesn't make sense.

If it is driven off the cliff, then inital vertical velocity is 0, therefore gravity will pull it down in 5.1 seconds no? So in that 5.1 seconds the car must have enough vertical velocity to go 90m, traveling at 17.6m/s for 5.1seconds will take you 90m.

Whats the deal? Is that answer wrong?
 
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just to clear things up how did you calculate 5.1 seconds?
 
pinkfloyd12 said:
If it is driven off the cliff, then inital vertical velocity is 0, therefore gravity will pull it down in 5.1 seconds no?


What did you use to obtain this time?
 
i can obtain the correct answer, we just need to see where you got 5.1 seconds from?
 
Welcome to PF!

Hi pinkfloyd12! Welcome to PF! :smile:
pinkfloyd12 said:
… the cliff was 50.0 m high.
…
If it is driven off the cliff, then inital vertical velocity is 0, therefore gravity will pull it down in 5.1 seconds no?

Noooo :wink:
 
Whoooops. Got it. Units to the maximum.
 

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