Let the body hit the floor.

A body is dropped from a certain height h . h. The ratio of the distance traveled by ( n 3 ) (n-3) seconds to the distance it travels in the ( n 3 ) th (n-3)^{\text{th}} second is 4 : 3 4:3 . Suppose the body falls down to the ground in a total of n n seconds, find the height of the building, h h .

Assumptions and Details

  • g = 10 g=10 m/s 2 ^2
  • The body is not a corpse, simply a mass.
  • Neglect wind resistance.


The answer is 125.

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1 solution

Brilliant Physics Staff
Jun 14, 2016

The distance travelled by the body in t t seconds is given by d ( t ) = 1 2 g t 2 d(t)=\frac12 gt^2 . Thus, the distance travelled during the t th t^\textrm{th} second is Δ d ( t ) = d ( t ) d ( t 1 ) = 1 2 g ( t 2 ( t 1 ) 2 ) = 1 2 g ( 2 t 1 ) \begin{aligned} \Delta d(t) &= d(t) - d(t-1) \\ &= \frac12 g\left(t^2 - \left(t-1\right)^2\right) \\ &= \frac12 g \left(2t-1\right) \end{aligned} The ratio of distance travelled in the t th t^\textrm{th} second to that travelled by the t th t^\textrm{th} second is d ( t ) Δ d ( t ) = t 2 2 t 1 \frac{d(t)}{\Delta d(t)} = \frac{t^2}{2t-1} This ratio is equal to 4/3 when t = 2 t=2 . Thus, the distance travelled in n = t + 3 n = t+3 seconds is d ( 5 ) = 125 d(5)=125 m.

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