Question

A. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is 131 m high. A truck crossing the bridge loses a piece of cargo, launching it horizontally and perpendicularly off the bridge at 75 miles per hour. How far does the object travel horizontally before it hits the water?

B.The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is 131 m high. A truck crossing the bridge loses a piece of cargo, launching it horizontally and perpendicularly off the bridge at 75 miles per hour. How fast is it going when it hits the water?

Answer 1

(A)

Considering vertical motion, the cargo has zero initial vertical velocity. Cargo will cover 131 m vertically before it hits the water.

Time taken by the cargo to hit the water is given by

uy=0, sy=131 m

Since, the horizontal velocity remains constant, the horizontal distance covered by the cargo is

(B) From (A) , the time taken by the rock to hit the water is 5.17 seconds. The vertical component of the velocity of the rock when it hits the ground is given by

Again, initial vertical velocity of the rock is zero.

The velocity just before the rock hits the water is

Remember:The horizontal velocity of the rock is 75 mph which remains costant throughout the motion of the rock but the initial vertical velocity of the rock is 0 as the rock is launched horizontally and perpendicular to the bridge.