Question

A jet is travelling at a speed of 1200 km/h and drops cargo from a height of 2.5 km above the ground Calculate the time it takes for the cargo to hit the ground and the range it travels

Answer 1

a) Time of flight: 22.6 s

To calculate the time it takes for the cargo to reach the ground, we just consider the vertical motion of the cargo.

The vertical position at time t is given by

$y(t) = h +u_y t - \frac{1}{2}gt^2$

where

h = 2.5 km = 2500 m is the initial height

$u_y = 0$ is the initial vertical velocity of the cargo

g = 9.8 m/s^2 is the acceleration of gravity

The cargo reaches the ground when

$y(t) = 0$

So substituting it into the equation and solving for t, we find the time of flight of the cargo:

$0 = h - \frac{1}{2}gt^2\\t=\sqrt{\frac{2h}{g}}=\sqrt{\frac{2(2500)}{9.8}}=22.6 s$

b) 7.5 km

The range travelled by the cargo can be calculated by considering its horizontal motion only. In fact, the horizontal motion is a uniform motion, with constant velocity equal to the initial velocity of the jet:

$v_x = 1200 km/h \cdot \frac{1000 m/km}{3600 s/h}=333.3 m/s$

So the horizontal distance travelled is

$d=v_x t$

And if we substitute the time of flight,

t = 22.6 s

We find the range of the cargo:

$d=(333.3)(22.6)=7533 m = 7.5 km$