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Numerical Problems

C3.4.

A hailstone of mass 4.8×104 kg is dropped from an initial height of 50 m and falls through the air, experiencing a net force (gravity plus drag) given by: F=mg+Cv2 where C=2.5×105 kg/m.

  1. Calculate the terminal speed of the hailstone using vt=mgC.
  2. Use Euler's method to find the speed and position of the hailstone as a function of time.
  3. Plot the position of the hailstone as a function of time. How do you know that terminal velocity has been reached?
  4. Plot the velocity of the hailstone as a function of time. Does this function agree with the position vs. time function? Remember that the slope of position vs time function is equal to the value of velocity vs time function. Did you reach the same terminal velocity that you calculated earlier?
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