A girl kicks a ball at a horizontal speed of 15ms^1 off of a ledge 20m above the ground. What is the horizontal displacement of the ball when it hits the ground?

As we are looking for the horizontal displacement first we look at horizontal motion. We know that the horizontal velocity is 15ms^-1 but we dont know the time so we can't work out the horizontal displacement from this. So we must consider vertical motion to calculate the time taken for the ball to reach the floor as it is equal in horizontal and vertical motion. As the ball is moving at a speed horizontally we know that the initial vertical velocity u=0. We also know that the vertical displacement s=20 and that acceleration due to gravity a=9.8. So of SUVAT we have S, U and A and are trying to find T. So of the SUVAT equations we want to use s=ut+0.5at^2 as it doesn't contain any variables we don't know except for T which we are looking for. Sub in the variables we know (S, U and A) and rearrange to find T. 20=(0)t+(0.5)(9.8)t^2 t=2.02 Now use t as the horizontal time in speed=distance/time to find the horizontal displacement distance=speed x time x=15 x 2.02 = 30.3m

VW
Answered by Victoria W. Maths tutor

3974 Views

See similar Maths A Level tutors

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

Find the gradient of the line with equation 2x + 5y = 7


Differentiate y=4x^2+3x+9


A 2.4 m long plank of mass 20kg has 2 pins, each 0.5 meters from each respective plank end. A person of mass 40kg stands on the plank 0.1m from one of the pins. Calculate the magnitude of reactions at the pins for this structure to be in equilibrium.


In a geometric series, the first and fourth terms are 2048 and 256 respectively. Calculate r, the common ratio of the terms. The sum of the first n terms is 4092. Calculate the value of n.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning