Math Is Fun Forum

paulb203

Member

Registered: 2023-02-24

Posts: 401

Acceleration; Freefall v Car on a road etc

Acceleration; Freefall v Car on a road etc

Is there anything fundamentally different about a man in freefall compared with objects accelerating horizontally, for example a car on a road (other than the rate of acc. due to g being around 10m/s/s near or on the surface of the Earth; and acc. for a car on a road, or box on a floor, etc, varies according to the context)?

If a car was accelerating at a constant 10m/s/s would the following values be the same for both the man in freefall and the car on the road (ignoring friction of any kind)?

0-1s; 0m/s-10m/s; average v = 5m/s; distance = 5m; total distance=5m
1-2s; 10m/s-20m/2; average v= 15m/s; distance = 15m; total distance=20m
2-3s; 20m/s-30m/s; average v= 25m/s; distance = 25m; total distance=45m

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"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
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Bob

Administrator

Registered: 2010-06-20

Posts: 10,744

Re: Acceleration; Freefall v Car on a road etc

Yes, that's right for all those calcs.  The laws of motion work the same for both situations.

Bob

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Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob

paulb203

Member

Registered: 2023-02-24

Posts: 401

Re: Acceleration; Freefall v Car on a road etc

Thanks, Bob.

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"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
Mark Twain