Time that an object is in the air

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The discussion revolves around calculating the total time an object is in the air after being fired straight upward with an initial velocity of 100 m/s. There is confusion regarding whether to divide the time to reach maximum height by two or to multiply it by two to find the total time. The user calculated the time to reach maximum height as 10 seconds, leading to a total time of 20 seconds, which contradicts the suggested answer of 4.5 seconds. The calculations indicate that the answer key may be incorrect, as the derived values do not align with the proposed options. The conversation highlights the importance of clarifying the question's intent to avoid misinterpretation.
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In a question, it asks for the time that an object is in the air; at first I thought it meant the time at max height, but I was told it should be the time at max height divided by 2 because the object goes up and down. But if the object goes up and down, wouldn't you mult by 2?
 
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The time it takes to reach max height x 2 would give you the total time it was in the air.

Either your reading a typo or I'm reading the question wrong.
 
Here's the question:
An object fired straight upward with an initial velocity of 1.0 x 10^2 m/s is subjected to the effects of gravitation.
In a previous question, I solved for max height, which was 5.1 x 10^2 m. (I'm not sure if this is related to the next question though).
The time the object is in the air is
a. 4.5 s
b. 9.0 s
c. 20 s
d. 10 s

I keep on getting d. 10s

vi(velocity initial)= 100m/s vf(final)= 0 a(acceleration)= -9.81m/s^2 displacement=not needed t(time)= ?

a = (vf - vi) / t
t = (vf - vi) / a
t = (0 - 100m/s) / (-9.81m/s^2)
t = (-100m/s) / (-9.81m/s^2)
t = 10s but the correct ans should be a. 4.5s :frown:
 
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hmm...sounds strange too me. 4.5s total time for a projectile at shot 100m/s?
 
well, i could be wrong about total time, the question maybe asking for smthg else... I geuss I'll check if the ans key is wrong tomorrow... :wink:
 
yeah I get H = 510.20 meters, total time 20.4seconds, time at H(max) = 10.2 seconds
 
and even if you divide by 2 for whatever reason, you still wouldn't get 4.5s, so...

well, thanks!
 
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