Problema Solution
Akoto, a student of Ashesi University College, during one of his Physics practicals session was asked to drop a tennis ball from one of the floors of the Cedi House in Accra. From the floor where Akoto dropped his ball to the ground is about 179 meters. After releasing the tennis ball, Akoto realized that the ball travels with constant acceleration until it hits the ground. He also observed that the ball rebounds several times after hitting the ground. He later found out that on each rebound, the tennis ball rises exactly to one tenth of its previous height. Given the above information, find the total distance covered by the tennis ball before coming to rest
Answer provided by our tutors
For a geometric sequence with first term a = 179 and common ratio r=1/10 < 0, the infinite sum of the terms is:
S = a/(1 - r)
S = 179/(1 - 1/10)
S = 198.89 m approximately
The total distance covered by the tennis ball before coming to rest is 198.89 meters.