Question

A boy travelling in an open car moving on a levelled road with constant speed tosses a ball vertically up in the air and catches it back. Sketch the motion of the ball as observed by a boy standing on the footpath. Give explanation to support your diagram.

Answer 1

The horizontal speed of the ball is same as that of the car, therefore ball as well as car travels equal horizontal distance. U = car speed of car, v = vertical speed of ball

\(v_0=\sqrt{u^2+v^2}\)

\(\theta = tan^{-1}(\frac{u}{v})\)

For a ground-based observer, the ball is a projectile with speed v₀ and the angle of projection θ with horizontal in as shown above.