A student drops a feather from a height of 89.0m. Determine all unknowns and answer the following questions.How long did the feather remain in the air? What was the feather's speed just before striking the ground?

The vertical distance covered by the feather is,
[tex]h=ut+\frac{1}{2}gt^2[/tex]As the feather is falling freely therefore, the initial speed of the feather is zero.
Substitute the known values and solve to calculate the time taken.
[tex]\begin{gathered} 89.0\text{ m=(0 m/s)t+}\frac{1}{2}(9.8m/s^2)t^2 \\ t^2=\frac{2(89.0\text{ m)}}{(9.8m/s^2)} \\ t=\sqrt[]{18.16s^2} \\ \approx4.26\text{ s} \end{gathered}[/tex]Therefore, the time for which the feather remain in the air is 4.26 s.
The final speed of the feather can be given as,
[tex]v=u+gt[/tex]Substitute the known values,
[tex]\begin{gathered} v=0m/s+(9.8m/s^2)(4.26\text{ s)} \\ \approx41.75\text{ m/s} \end{gathered}[/tex]Therefore, the speed with which it strikes on the ground is 41.75 m/s.