PhysicsLAB Practice Problems
Freely Falling Bodies with Linear Trajectories


Directions: On this worksheet you will practice working with freely falling bodies released vertically as a special example of uniformly accelerated motion.

Question 1  A ball is thrown straight down off a 16-meter balcony at a speed of 10 m/sec. How many seconds will it take to hit the ground at the base of the balcony?
Question 2  How fast will the ball in Question #1 be traveling just as it impacts the ground?
Question 3  If the ball in Question #1 had instead been thrown straight upwards at a speed of 10 m/sec off the 16-meter balcony, how much time would it have taken to strike the ground at the base of the balcony?
Question 4  True or False. The ball in Question #3 will strike the ground moving at a faster speed than the ball released in Question #1.
Question 5  How high above the release point did the ball in Question #3 rise during its trajectory?
Question 6  From the instant when the ball was tossed upwards in Question #3, how much time was required before the ball once again passes through its release position?
Question 7  A walnut drops from the top branch of a walnut tree and falls a total distance of 24 meters. After one second, it clears all of the tree's foliage. How much additional time passes before it strikes the ground at the base of the tree?
Question 8  What was the walnut's final velocity just as it impacted with the ground?


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