Nuts To You

Nuts To You#

In the children’s book Nuts to You, a young squirrel named Jed is snatched up by a hawk. While in the air Jed manages to go limp, slip through the hawk’s talons and fall to the forest floor. The hawk travels horizontally at a speed of 3.87 \(m/s\). (You may neglect any effects of air resistance as you answer the following questions).

Part 1#

Draw motion diagrams for both the hawk and Jed. Use circles for the hawk and squares for Jed and label a legend.

Start your diagrams from the second before Jed is released and put a dot every second for 6 seconds.

Take a picture of your diagram, and upload it as a pdf.

Answer Section#

File upload box will be shown here.

Part 2#

One second after being released, what is the \(x\)-component of Jed’s velocity?

Answer Section#

Part 3#

Explain your answer to Part 2.

Answer Section#

  • Jed maintains the \(x\)-component of their velocity. (\(a_x = 0 \; m/s^2\))

  • There is no \(x\)-component since Jed falls in a straight line.

  • Jed’s velocity decreases because the hawk is no longer pulling them.

  • Jed’s velocity increases due to gravity.

Part 4#

One second after being released, what is the \(y\)-component of Jed’s velocity?

Answer Section#

Part 5#

Explain your answer to Part 4.

Answer Section#

  • Jed maintains the \(y\)-component of their velocity.

  • Jed’s velocity increases due to gravity.

  • Jed’s velocity decreases because the hawk is no longer pulling them.

  • Jed maintains the \(x\)-component of their velocity.

Part 6#

Does Jed or the hawk travel at a higher speed after Jed is released? Explain your answer.

Answer Section#

  • Jed travels at a higher speed after release as they accelerate downwards and maintain their horizontal speed.

  • The hawk travels at a higher speed after Jed is released since it is now lighter without Jed’s weight.

  • Both the hawk and Jed travel at the same speed.

  • The hawk travels at a higher speed because it maintains its horizontal speed.

Part 7#

If Jed is released from a 28.2 \(m\) height, how long does it take him to hit the forest floor?

Answer Section#

Part 8#

How far has Jed travelled horizontally as he fell?

Answer Section#

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Attribution#

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
The Creative Commons 4.0 license requiring attribution-BY, non-commercial-NC, and share-alike-SA license.