Question

Your friend, who is in a field 100 meters away from you, kicks a ball towards you with an initial velocity of 16 m/s. Assuming the grass causes the ball to decelerate at a constant rate of 1.0 m/s2, how long does it take for the ball to reach you?

Answer 1

Answer:

Time, t = 5.355 seconds

Explanation:

Given the following data;

Distance = 100 m

Initial velocity = 16 m/s

Deceleration = 1 m/s²

To find the time, we would use the second equation of motion;

But since the ball is decelerating, it's acceleration would be negative.

S = ut + ½at²

Where;

S represents the displacement or height measured in meters.

u represents the initial velocity measured in meters per seconds.

t represents the time measured in seconds.

a represents acceleration measured in meters per seconds square.

Substituting into the equation, we have;

100 = 16t - 0.5t²

200 = 32t - t²

t² + 32t - 200 = 0

Solving the quadratic equation using the quadratic formula;

The quadratic equation formula is;

$x = \frac {-b \; \pm \sqrt {b^{2} - 4ac}}{2a}$

Substituting into the equation, we have;

$x = \frac {-32 \; \pm \sqrt {32^{2} - 4*1*(-200)}}{2*1}$

$x = \frac {-32\pm \sqrt {1024 - (-800)}}{2}$

$x = \frac {-32 \pm \sqrt {1024 + 800}}{2}$

$x = \frac {-32 \pm \sqrt {1824}}{2}$

$x = \frac {-32 \pm 42.71}{2}$

$x_{1} = \frac {-32 + 42.71}{2}$

$x_{1} = \frac {10.71}{2}$

x1 = 5.355

We do not need the negative value of x, so we proceed.

Therefore, time = 5.355 seconds