A military helicopter on a training mission is flying horizontally at a speed of

Question

A military helicopter on a training mission is flying horizontally at a speed of 40.0 m/s and accidentally drops a bomb (fortunately not armed) at an elevation of 290 m. You can ignore air resistance.

(a) How much time is required for the bomb to reach the earth?
s

(b) How far does it travel horizontally while falling?
km

(c) Find the horizontal and vertical components of its velocity just before it strikes the earth.
m/s (horizontal component)
m/s (vertical component)

(d) Draw x - t, y - t, vx - t and vy - t graphs for the bomb's motion. (Do this on paper. Your instructor may ask you to turn in these graphs.)

(e) If the velocity of the helicopter remains constant, where is the helicopter when the bomb hits the ground?
height above ground
m

The helicopter is ahead of the bomb.The helicopter is behind the bomb.    The helicopter is directly above the bomb.

Explanation / Answer

a) d = 1/2(a x t^2); rewrite to solve for t:

t = sqrt(2 x d / a) = sqrt( 2 x290 / 9.8) = 7.693seconds

b) horiz distance = v x t = 40 x 7.693 = 307.72meters

c) bombs horizontal component of velocity doesn't change, neglecting air resistance = 60.0 m/s.

d) the helicopter is directly over the bomb if no air resistance

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