Estimating the Height of the Cliff with Physics

At the "Pinnacle" of Ethan Allen park there is a large cliff, which we eventually lost a frisbee over. We estimated that the cliff was at least 100ft high, but weren't sure. Bill, a physics teacher, suggested that we use physics to determine the height of the cliff.

.........................................The Cliff...........................................................The Math............................................................

Bill explained that by using the formula d=1/2 (a) (t)^2, we could calculate the height of the cliff. If we threw a rock side-arm off the cliff, d=the height of the cliff, a=Gravity (9.8 m/s/s), and t=the time it takes the rock to reach the bottom of the cliff. So we threw several rocks over the cliff and timed how long they took to reach the ground. This method, however, does not account for the friction of objects against the air, which makes it slightly inaccurate.

Solving the Problem

d=1/2 (9.81 m/s/s) (1.63 s)^2

d=13.1 meters

This meant that when Pauline sent the frisbee rolling over the cliff, it fell over 13 meters into the patch poison ivy.