a penny dropped from the Empire state building. how far does the penny drop in 6 seconds? how fast will it be moving after 10 seconds?

2 answers

Drag out your good old equations.

s = 1/2 at^2
v = at

Ring a bell?

In feet,

s = 16t^2 = 16*36 = 576ft
v = 32*10 = 320 ft/s
You can use the formulas
y = (g/2) t^2
for the distance it drops and
V = g*t
for the velocity.
t is the time it has fallen.

They are good for the inital several seconds, but after that, air friction slows it down.

g is the acceleration of gravIty, which you should know the vaue of.