The body falls freely from a height of 122.5 m. Determine the path traveled by the body during

The body falls freely from a height of 122.5 m. Determine the path traveled by the body during the last second of its fall.

Given:

H = 122.5 meters – the height from which the body falls;

g = 9.8 meters per second squared – gravitational acceleration (constant near the Earth’s surface).

It is required to determine S (meter) – the path that the body will travel in the last second of its fall.

According to the condition of the problem, the body falls freely, that is, without initial velocity. Let’s find the total time of the body falling:

t = (2 * H / g) ^ 0.5 = (2 * 122.5 / 9.8) ^ 0.5 = (245 / 9.8) ^ 0.5 = 25 ^ 0.5 = 5 seconds …

Let’s find the path that the body has traveled in a time equal to t-1:

H1 = g * (t-1) ^ 2/2 = 9.8 * (5 – 1) ^ 2/2 = 9.8 * 42/2 = 9.8 * 16/2 = 78.4 meters.

Then, in the last second, the body went the way:

S = H – H1 = 122.5 – 78.4 = 44.1 meters.

Answer: in the last second, the body passed 44.1 meters.