College Physics by Openstax Chapter 2 Problem 42: Displacement and Velocity of a Rock Thrown Downward from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Solution:

The given known quantities are: $a=-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2$ ; $y_0=0 \ \text{m}$ ; and $v_0=-14 \ \text{m/s}$ .

To compute for the displacement, we use the formula

\Delta y=v_0t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

and to compute for the final velocity, we use the formula

v_f=v_0+at

Part A

The displacement at $t=0.500 \ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} \Delta y & =v_0t+\frac{1}{2}at^2 \\ \Delta y &=\left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)\left(0.500\:\text{s}\right)+\frac{1}{2}\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(0.500\:\text{s}\right)^2 \\ \Delta y & =-8.23\:\text{m} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

The velocity at $t=0.500 \ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} v_f & =v_0+at \\ &= \left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)+\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(0.500\:\text{s}\right) \\ & =-18.9\:\text{m/s} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

Part B

The displacement at $t=1.00\ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} \Delta y & =v_0t+\frac{1}{2}at^2 \\ \Delta y &=\left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)\left(1.00\:\text{s}\right)+\frac{1}{2}\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(1.00\:\text{s}\right)^2 \\ \Delta y & =-18.9\:\text{m} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

The velocity at $t=1.00\ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} v_f & =v_0+at \\ &= \left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)+\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(1.00\:\text{s}\right) \\ & =-23.8\:\text{m/s} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

Part C

The displacement at $t=1.50\ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} \Delta y & =v_0t+\frac{1}{2}at^2 \\ \Delta y &=\left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)\left(1.50\:\text{s}\right)+\frac{1}{2}\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(1.50\:\text{s}\right)^2 \\ \Delta y & =-32.0\:\text{m} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

The velocity at $t=1.50\ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} v_f & =v_0+at \\ &= \left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)+\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(1.50\:\text{s}\right) \\ & =-28.7\:\text{m/s} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

Part D

The displacement at $t=2.00\ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} \Delta y & =v_0t+\frac{1}{2}at^2 \\ \Delta y &=\left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)\left(2.00\:\text{s}\right)+\frac{1}{2}\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(2.00\:\text{s}\right)^2 \\ \Delta y & =-47.6\:\text{m} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

The velocity at $t= 2.00 \ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} v_f & =v_0+at \\ &= \left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)+\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(2.00\:\text{s}\right) \\ & =-33.6\:\text{m/s} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

Part E

The displacement at $t=2.50\ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} \Delta y & =v_0t+\frac{1}{2}at^2 \\ \Delta y &=\left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)\left(2.50\:\text{s}\right)+\frac{1}{2}\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(2.50\:\text{s}\right)^2 \\ \Delta y & =-65.6\:\text{m} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}

The velocity at $t= 2.50 \ \text{s}$ is

\begin{align*} v_f & =v_0+at \\ &= \left(-14.0\:\text{m/s}\right)+\left(-9.8\:\text{m/s}^2\right)\left(2.50\:\text{s}\right) \\ & =-38.5\:\text{m/s} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) \end{align*}