Learn more physics!
Q:
Why do some projectile motion equations use -16t squared and some use -9.8t squared
- Nick (age 15)
Glenolden, PA, USA
A:
You're talking about changes in height due to gravity. Neither of those expressions are correct, since they do not include units of length or time. The first would be
h= - 0.5*32 feet/s
2 *time
2
The second would
be
h= -0.5*9.8 meter/s
2 *time
2I'm not sure why one of the versions you gave included the factor of 0.5 and the other didn't.
Mike W.
(published on 09/22/2011)
Follow-up on this answer.
