Understanding the Concepts
* Free Fall: An object in free fall experiences only the force of gravity. We assume no air resistance for this problem.
* Acceleration due to Gravity (g): On Earth, this is approximately 9.8 m/s². This means an object in free fall increases its speed by 9.8 meters per second every second.
* Initial Velocity (v₀): We assume the object starts from rest, so v₀ = 0 m/s.
Formula
We can use the following kinematic equation to find the final velocity (v):
v = v₀ + at
Where:
* v = final velocity
* v₀ = initial velocity
* a = acceleration (due to gravity, g)
* t = time
Calculations
1. Convert mass to kilograms: 8 g = 0.008 kg (This is not directly needed for the speed calculation, but good practice for physics problems)
2. Plug in the values:
* v = 0 + (9.8 m/s²)(6 s)
3. Calculate: v = 58.8 m/s
Answer
The object will have a speed of 58.8 m/s after falling for 6 seconds.
