Demon Drop is a popular ride at Cedar Point Park in Ohio. During the ride four people in a cage are in vertical freefall for a short time. Then they ride along a curved track and are finally brought to a stop while riding along on a straight level segment of track.

Newton’s Law of Gravitation tells us that the Earth exerts a constant force on an object that is close to its surface. If no other forces are present, Newton’s Second Law of Motion can be used in conjunction with data about the Earth’s mass and radius to predict that an object falling freely near its surface will undergo a constant downward acceleration of magnitude 9.8 m/s2. Is thisreally the acceleration of the cage full of people? To answer this question you’ll analyze a video of the of the cage’s fall.

To test the prediction of the falling rate you’ll need to (1) predict what kinematic equation will describe the vertical motion of the cage; (2) obtain height vs. time data from the video; (3) develop an analytic mathematical model, which is an equation that describes the details of the cage’s motion; and finally, (4) compare the model to the data.

--->>>If objects fall at a constant acceleration near the Earth’s surface, then the kinematic equations should hold. Which equation describes the height of the cage, y, in the Demon Drop as a function of time in terms of its vertical acceleration (ay), initial velocity (v0y), initial position (y0) and initial time or time offset (t0)? <<--