Consider a railroad bridge over a highway. a train passing over the bridge dislodges a loose bolt from the bridge, which proceeds to fall straight down and ends up breaking the windshield of a car passing under the bridge. the car was 27 m away from the point of impact when the bolt began to fall down; unfortunately, the driver did not notice it and proceeded at constant speed of 17 m/s. how high is the bridge? or more precisely, how high are the railroad tracks above the windshield height? the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s 2 .

The railroad tracks are 13 m above the windshield (12 m without intermediate rounding).

Explanation:

First, let´s calculate the time it took the driver to travel the 27 m to the point of impact.

The equation for the position of the car is:

x = v · t

Where

x = position at time t

v = velocity

t = time

x = v · t

27 m = 17 m/s · t

27 m / 17 m/s = t

t = 1.6 s

Now let´s calculate the distance traveled by the bolt in that time. Let´s place the origin of the frame of reference at the height of the windshield:

The position of the bolt will be:

y = y0 + 1/2 · g · t²

Where

y = height of the bolt at time t

y0 = initial height of the bolt

g = acceleration due to gravity

t = time

Since the origin of the frame of reference is located at the windshield, at time 1.6 s the height of the bolt will be 0 m (impact on the windshield). Then, we can calculate the initial height of the bolt which is the height of the railroad tracks above the windshield:

y = y0 + 1/2 · g · t²

0 = y0 -1/2 · 9.8 m/s² · (1.6 s)²

y0 = 13 m

no

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