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Determining the height of a building with a stopwatch

By Christopher Moore

This is the first video in our homework problem solution series. It is a classic example of a one-dimensional motion problem most students would encounter in an introductory physics class.

The problem: I go outside and climb onto the roof of the building. I drop a rock off of the top and with a stopwatch I time how long the rock takes to reach the ground. The stopwatch reads 2 seconds when the rock hits the ground. How tall is the building?

Click on the video below to see the solution worked out in real time. The text in the video is impossible to read, but it is just the problem above written out. Future videos will have this problem corrected. The actual problem solving is clear.

If you do not see the video above, then you do not have Macromedia Flash. You can check out the video in Quicktime and/or download the latest Flash player here

If you have questions about this solution, then please ask them in the forums.


Posted on: Wednesday September 27th 2006, 10:08 am
Filed under: Videos, Problem Solutions, 1D Motion

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