In some SUVAT questions, they ask for 2 time solutions and I can only find 1. What am I missing?
Let's say we are trying to work out how long it will take for a ball to be caught after it has been thrown straight upwards. If we set the final displacement to be zero (S=0) and solve S=UT+0.5AT2, it appears that we only get one value for T. However, there will always be a step in your workings when you can cancel a T from both sides of the equation, for example: 5T2 = 100T can be simplified to 5T = 100. In this step, we miss out a solution that T=0! This corresponds to when the ball is just about to be thrown so is still in our hands (hence we have a solution for zero displacement!)
CI
Related Physics A Level answers
All answers ▸What is the angular speed of a car wheel of diameter 0.400m when the speed of the car is 108km/h?
An electron is emitted from a cathode in an electron gun, with a potential difference of 150kV. Find the velocity of the electron after it is accelerated and find the De Broglie wavelength.
What is the maximum length a bungee rope with a spring constant of 100 Nm−1 can be for an 80kg man to be able to jump from 100m above a river without touching the water?
How does the photoelectric effect provide evidence for a particulate nature of electromagnetic radiation?