Q6DQ
Question
A package falls out of an airplane that is flying in a straight line at a constant altitude and speed. If you ignore air resistance,what would be the path of the package as observed by the pilot? As observed by a person on the ground?
Step-by-Step Solution
Verifiedthe path for package observed by pilot is straight lineand the path of the package observed by the observer at ground is parabolic.
A trajectory, often known as a flight path, is the route that a mass moving through space takes as a function of time.
The pilot (and the plane) keeps the same horizontal velocity as when the cargo was dropped. At every moment of the package's descent, their x-displacements are identical. The package accelerates downhill owing to gravity. The cargo moves straight down in relation to the pilot.
Thus, the path for package observed by pilot is straight line.
The route of the package as viewed from the ground will be a parabola, because the package had an initial velocity in the horizontal direction equal to that of the plane, and once under the effect of gravity, it likewise travelled downward. The path of the package as seen by an observer on the ground is shown in the diagram below as:
Thus, the path of the package observed by the observer at ground is parabolic.