What is the velocity of a car that falls off a cliff?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 3K views
Maty
Messages
26
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



A car drives straight off the edge of a cliff that is 53 m high. The police at the scene of the accident note that the point of impact is 139 m from the base of the cliff. How fast was the car traveling when it went over the cliff?

Homework Equations



Distance=Acceleration*(Time^2) and any other distance, acceleration, velocity, time formulas.

The Attempt at a Solution



My attempt was to use the vertical distance and gravity to find the time it took to fall, and then somehow use that time (3.29s) to find the horizontal velocity. But I have no idea how to do that, and not even sure if I started it out right.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Never mind, I had the right number (3.29s) but wrong idea. Just had to plug in that number in v=d/t to get the velocity... Durr.