A ball player wishes to determine her pitching speed by throwing a ball horizontally from an elevation of 3.0 m above the ground. She sees the ball land 15 m down the range. What is the speed of the ball as it leaves her hand?

Answer 1

Calculate the time it takes the ball to fall 3 meters when thrown horizontally.

That time, t, is given by the formula
3.0 = (g/2) t^2. Solve for t.

After you have calculated t, you can get the speed of the ball using
V = (15 m)/t.