Kinematic Equations for Objects in Free Fall
Check Your Understanding
A chunk of ice breaks off a glacier and falls 30.0 meters before it hits the water. Assuming it falls freely (there is no air resistance), how long does it take to hit the water?
Solution
We know that initial position , final position , and We can then use the equation to solve for Inserting , we obtain
where we take the positive value as the physically relevant answer. Thus, it takes about 2.5 seconds for the piece of ice to hit the water.