College Physics by Openstax Chapter 2 Problem 54: Determining the Initial Velocity of a Ball from Its Motion Past a Vertical Window

Problem:

A ball is thrown straight up. It passes a 2.00-m-high window 7.50 m off the ground on its path up and takes 0.312 s to go past the window. What was the ball’s initial velocity? Hint: First consider only the distance along the window, and solve for the ball’s velocity at the bottom of the window. Next, consider only the distance from the ground to the bottom of the window, and solve for the initial velocity using the velocity at the bottom of the window as the final velocity.

Solution:

First, we have the position 1 where the motion starts. Here, we know that y<sub>1</sub>=0, t<sub>1</sub>=0, and v<sub>y1</sub>=0.

Position 2 is at the bottom of the window. We know that it is 7.50 meters from where the motion started. So we have y<sub>2</sub>=7.50 meters. We do not know the time and velocity at this point.

Then we have position 3 at the top of the window where the overall height is 9.50 meters, y<sub>3</sub>=9.50. We also do not know the velocity and time elapsed in this position. — *Figure A*

Consider Figure A. We shall be considering the three positions shown.

First, we have position 1 where the motion starts. Here, we know that y₁=0 and t₁=0, but we do not know v_y1.

Position 2 is at the bottom of the window. We know that it is 7.50 meters from where the motion started. So we have y₂=7.50 meters. We do not know the time and velocity at this point.

Then we have position 3 at the top of the window where the overall height is 9.50 meters, y₃=9.50. We also do not know the velocity and time elapsed in this position.

Consider positions 2 and 3. The initial position in this case is at position 2 and the final position is at position 3. We know that the difference of time between this two positions is 0.312 seconds. We can say that

t_3 =t_2+0.312 \ \text{s} \\ t_3-t_2 = 0.312\ \text{s}

Using the same 2 positions still, we have

\begin{align*} y_3 & = y_2 + v_{y_2} \Delta t+\frac{1}{2}a\left( \Delta t \right)^2 \\ 9.50\ \text{m} & = 7.50\ \text{m} + v_{y_2} \left( t_3-t_2 \right)+\frac{1}{2}a\left( t_3-t_2 \right)^2 \\ 9.50\ \text{m}-7.50\ \text{m} & = v_{y_2}\left( 0.312\ \text{s} \right)+\frac{1}{2}\left( -9.81\ \text{m/s}^2 \right)\left( 0.312\ \text{s} \right)^2\\ 2.00\ \text{m} & = 0.312\ \text{s} \left( v_{y_2} \right)-0.4775\ \text{m} \\ 0.312\ \text{s} \left( v_{y_2} \right) & = 2.00\ \text{m}+0.4775\ \text{m} \\ 0.312\ \text{s} \left( v_{y_2} \right) & = 2.4775\ \text{m} \\ v_{y_2}& =\frac{2.4775\ \text{m}}{0.312\ \text{s}} \\ v_{y_2}& = 7.94\ \text{m/s} \end{align*}

We have computed the velocity of the ball at the bottom of the window.

Next, we shall consider positions 1 and 2. In this consideration, position 1 will be considered the initial position while position2 is the final position.

\begin{align*} \left( v_{y_2} \right)^2 & = \left( v_{y_1} \right)^2 +2a \Delta y \\ \left( 7.94\ \text{m/s} \right)^2 & = \left( v_{y_1} \right)^2 + 2\left( -9.81 \ \text{m/s}^2 \right)\left( 7.50\ \text{m}-0 \right)\\ \left( v_{y_1} \right)^2 & = \left( 7.94\ \text{m/s} \right)^2- 2\left( -9.81 \ \text{m/s}^2 \right)\left( 7.50\ \text{m}-0 \right)\\ v_{y_1} & = + \sqrt{ \left( 7.94\ \text{m/s} \right)^2- 2\left( -9.81 \ \text{m/s}^2 \right)\left( 7.50\ \text{m}-0 \right)} \\ v_{y_1} & = + 14.5\ \text{m/s}\qquad {\color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right) } \end{align*}

$\therefore$ The ball’s initial velocity is about 14.5 m/s upward.

College Physics Chapter 2 Problems

Problem 1	Problem 2	Problem 3	Problem 4	Problem 5
Problem 6	Problem 7	Problem 8	Problem 9	Problem 10
Problem 11	Problem 12	Problem 13	Problem 14	Problem 15
Problem 16	Problem 17	Problem 18	Problem 19	Problem 20
Problem 21	Problem 22	Problem 23	Problem 24	Problem 25
Problem 26	Problem 27	Problem 28	Problem 29	Problem 30
Problem 31	Problem 32	Problem 33	Problem 34	Problem 35
Problem 36	Problem 37	Problem 38	Problem 39	Problem 40
Problem 41	Problem 42	Problem 43	Problem 44	Problem 45
Problem 46	Problem 47	Problem 48	Problem 49	Problem 50
Problem 51	Problem 52	Problem 53	Problem 54	Problem 55
Problem 56	Problem 57	Problem 58	Problem 59	Problem 60
Problem 61	Problem 62	Problem 63	Problem 64	Problem 65
Problem 66