In a bizarre but harmless accident, a watermelon fell from the top of the Eiffel Tower. How fast was the watermelon traveling when it hit the ground 6.40 seconds after falling?
Assuming no air resistance, the only force acting on the watermelon while it was falling, was the one due to the gravity.
This means that the object fell down with a constant acceleration which magnitude is equal to 9.8 m/s2.
Applying the definition of acceleration, and assuming that the watermelon was dropped, so initial velocity is just zero, we can find the speed when it hit the ground as follows:
[tex]v_{f} = a*t = -g*t = -9.8 m/s2*6.4 m/s = -62.7 m/s (1)[/tex]
The watermelon was traveling at a speed of 62.7 m/s when it hit the ground.
