How do you determine the height for Part B of this question?

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1 Answer
Jul 7, 2016

14
47.68ms^-1, rounded to two decimal places.
142J

Explanation:

Let height of the building be =h " "m
After the wrench is dropped from the roof top, the kinematic equation is given by
v^2-u^2=2gs ......(1)
where v, u and g are final velocity after dropping distance s, initial velocity and acceleration due to gravity respectively. Let g=9.8ms^-2

Let us find out the distance dropped when workman standing at the eighth floor observes the wrench. (for simplicity eyes of worker assumed at the floor level)
(33.1)^2-0^2=2xx9.8xxs
=>s=(33.1)^2/(2xx9.8)
=>sapprox55.9 m
Since the floors above the first are of height 8m each
Hence number of floors above the eighth floor=55.9/8
=7, rounded to nearest digit as number of floors can not be a fraction.
Total number of floors of the building =7+7=14
We need to remember that the workman standing on the eighth floor has only seven floors below him.

Height of the building h=12.0+13xx8.00=116.00m
(First floor is of 12.0 m and all other floors are of 8.00 m height)
From (1) velocity v when the wrench hits the ground
v^2=2xx9.8xx118.00
v=47.68ms^-1, rounded to two decimal places.

Kinetic energy of wrench when it hits the ground=mgh
=0.125xx9.8xx116=142J

(All its potential energy while at the roof gets converted into its kinetic energy as it hits the ground.
It can also be calculated using the expression KE=1/2mv^2)