If I am standing on a flat bed truck heading East going 50 mph and (while standing on the truck) throw a ball 50 mph towards the West (opposite direction), what is the speed of the ball at the point of release if the speed is being calculated from a stationary position on the ground? Won't they cancel each other out and the ball just simply hover for a second and drop to the ground?
2007-01-04 16:42:54 · 4 answers · asked by Mr. T 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
0 mph
2007-01-04 16:49:12 · answer #1 · answered by N W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the ball is traveling at 50 mph West at point of release
It appears to stand still to the naked it eye
almost instantly the wind draft created by the truck will slow the ball down and by the time the ball reaches the end of the truck and hits the ground, it will have reversed direction and will be going east
2007-01-04 16:55:35 · answer #2 · answered by Çlïgér4™ ♂ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You failed to take into account the drag coefficient of the ball. It will actually be some small positive number towards the west. Since you're on the back of a truck, I'm assuming you are not in a vacuum.
2007-01-04 16:52:48 · answer #3 · answered by T L 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, However it will not hoover at all. It would appear that you just released the ball and it dropped.
2007-01-04 16:46:21 · answer #4 · answered by rscanner 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋