Homework help? (Math)

kluchetta

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OK, I told my daughter I was good at math and I could help her understand her homework. Wow, not such a good idea. I feel like I came in during the middle of a movie, LOL! So, it's a high school junior level course, and it's a non-traditional math class (i.e. they don't give you any formulas, or anything.) If I could just know the formula, I could probably help her. Here goes:

(the basic idea is that a person is riding a Ferris wheel, and jumping out of it into a barrel of water.)

In Homework 22: Big Push, you found the falling time for the diver if he was released from the 9 o'clock position. In that problem, the motion of the Ferris wheel gave him an initial downward velocity as he was released, and you saw that it took him less time to fall than if he had been dropped from a stationery Ferris wheel.

Now consider what happens if he is released from the 3 o'clock position. Because the platform is moving upward at that moment, the diver will start off with an initial upward motion. As in Homework 22: Big Push, his initial speed is equal to the speed with which he was moving when he was on the platform.

Assume again that the cart (that he is diving into) is in a fixed position, directly below the diver's point of release.

1) How long will it take from the time the diver is released until he reaches the water?
2) How long would it have taken him to reach the water if he had been released from a motionless Ferris wheel (at the 3 o'clock position)?
  • The Ferris wheel has a raduis of 50 feet.
  • The center of the Ferris wheel is 65 feet above the ground.
  • The Ferris wheel turns counterclockwise at a constant rate, making a complete turn every 40 seconds.
  • The water level in the cart is 8 feet above the ground.
OK - thanks for any help. I feel stupid!
 
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