Free fall Transitional Reasoning Download PDF

Questions

1. 1.

   An automated dispenser inside an evacuated vertical drop tower releases two identical spheres from rest from the same height. Sphere 1 is released at time t = 0, and Sphere 2 is released from the same point at t = 1.0 s. Assuming negligible air resistance and taking the acceleration due to gravity as 10 m/s², what is the vertical separation between the two spheres when Sphere 1 reaches a downward speed of 30 m/s?

   • A) 25 m
   • B) 20 m
   • C) 30 m
   • D) 15 m
2. 2.

   During an experiment in an evacuated vertical drop tower, a high-speed camera tracks an instrument capsule released from rest. The capsule enters the top of the camera's 1.8 m tall observation window and takes 0.20 s to pass through to the bottom edge. Assuming negligible air resistance and taking the acceleration due to gravity as $g = 10\text{ m/s}^2$, from what vertical distance above the top edge of the observation window was the capsule released?

   • A) 3.2 m
   • B) 4.05 m
   • C) 5.0 m
   • D) 6.4 m
3. 3.

   In an experiment designed to study free fall in the absence of air resistance, a steel ball is released from rest inside an evacuated vertical tube. A sensor positioned at a vertical distance $d$ below the release point measures the ball's speed as $v$. A second sensor placed farther down the tube measures the ball's speed as $3v$. What is the vertical distance between the two sensors in terms of $d$?

   • A) $2d$
   • B) $3d$
   • C) $8d$
   • D) $9d$
4. 4.

   A sensor inside an evacuated vertical test chamber tracks a metal sphere released from rest in free fall. The sphere travels a distance $d$ during the first time interval $\Delta t$, and an additional distance of 24 m during the second consecutive equal time interval $\Delta t$. Assuming air resistance is completely negligible, what is the total distance fallen by the sphere from its release point to the end of the third consecutive time interval ($3\Delta t$)?

   • A) 40 m
   • B) 48 m
   • C) 72 m
   • D) 96 m