While working on your physics homework in your dorm room you notice a flowerpot fall past your window because someone has carelessly knocked it off the roof. Fortunately, you computer¡¯s video camera captured the whole thing so you can measure the total time the pot was visible through your window as T. Taking out a tape measure you find your window¡¯s height is H. You¡¯ve always wanted to know how far the roof is from the top of your window (call it D) and realize that now is a great opportunity to find out without putting yourself in a dangerous or compromising position scaling the outside of your building.

Question

While working on your physics homework in your dorm room you notice a flowerpot fall past your window because someone has carelessly knocked it off the roof. Fortunately, you computer¡¯s video camera captured the whole thing so you can measure the total time the pot was visible through your window as T. Taking out a tape measure you find your window¡¯s height is H. You¡¯ve always wanted to know how far the roof is from the top of your window (call it D) and realize that now is a great opportunity to find out without putting yourself in a dangerous or compromising position scaling the outside of your building.
1. List all known quantities you can use to calculate the distance D.
2. List all unknown quantities you will use in deriving the distance D.
3.Write the mathematical representation of the problem and solve to find the distance D from the top of the building to the top of the window. Express your answer in terms of the known quantities or a subset of those quantities only. Make sure you show all work; a correct answer without a worked-out solution will receive no credit.