Describe what happens to a ball when you drop it from a height of 2 metres.
When you drop a ball from a height of 2 meters, several things happen. Let's break it down step by step:
1. Initially, the ball is at rest. It has a gravitational potential energy stored due to its position above the ground.
2. As soon as you release the ball, gravity starts to accelerate it downwards. The acceleration due to gravity is approximately 9.8 meters per second squared (m/s^2) on the Earth's surface.
3. The ball starts to fall, and its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. This energy conversion occurs because the ball is accelerating under the influence of gravity.
4. As the ball falls, its speed increases. The acceleration remains constant due to gravity until it reaches terminal velocity, but we'll come to that later.
5. The ball continues to accelerate until it reaches its maximum speed, which is determined by its mass and air resistance. This is known as terminal velocity. Terminal velocity is the constant speed an object reaches when the force of gravity pulling it downwards is balanced by the force of air resistance pushing against it.
6. Upon reaching the ground, the ball collides with it. Depending on the elasticity of the ball and the ground, it may bounce back up to some extent. This bounce-back occurs due to the conservation of energy. Some of the kinetic energy from the fall is converted into potential energy as the ball deflects back upwards.
So, in summary, when you drop a ball from a height of 2 meters, it accelerates under the force of gravity, converts potential energy into kinetic energy, reaches its maximum speed (terminal velocity), and finally collides with the ground, potentially bouncing back up.