A skier leaves a ski jump with a horizontal velocity of 24.0 m/s (and no vertical velocity component).The magnitude of the vertical component of her velocity the instant before she lands two seconds later is
A)24.0 m/s.
B)0 m/s.
C)43.6 m/s.
D)19.6 m/s.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since the skier leaves the ski jump with no vertical velocity component, the only force acting on her during her flight is gravity, which causes her to accelerate downwards at a rate of 9.8 m/s^2. Therefore, after two seconds, her vertical velocity will have increased by 19.6 m/s (9.8 m/s^2 x 2 s). This means that the magnitude of her vertical velocity the instant before she lands will be 19.6 m/s.

A Skier Leaves a Ski Jump with a Horizontal Velocity