Question

A snowball is thrown with an initial x velocity of 7.5 m/s and an initial y velocity of 8.4 m/s . Part A How much time is required for the snowball to reach its highest point

Answer 1

In order to calculate the time taken by the snowball to reach the highest point in its journey, we need to consider the variables along the y-direction.

Let us list out what we know from the question so that we can decide on the equation to be used.

We know that Initial Y Velocity$V_{iy}$ = 8.4 m/s

Acceleration in the Y direction $a_{y}$ = -9.8 m/$s^{2}$, since the acceleration due to gravity points in the downward direction.

Final Y Velocity $V_{fy}$ = 0 because at the highest point in its path, an object comes to rest momentarily before falling down.

Time taken t = ?

From the list above, it is easy to see that the equation that best suits our purpose here is $V_{fy} = V_{iy} + a_{y}t$

Plugging in the numbers, we get 0 = 8.4 - (9.8)t

Solving for t, we get t = 0.857 s

Therefore, the snowball takes 0.86 seconds to reach its highest point.