How fast were the balls going when they hit the ground?

The Leaning Tower Problem - part 2

It is said that Galileo (1564-1642) dropped balls of various weights from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to refute an Aristotelian belief that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.

If the balls were dropped from a height of 54 meters, how fast were the balls going when they hit the ground?

Answer:

The speed of an object under constant acceleration is given by the formula:

speed = acceleration × time + intial speed

We know from part 1 of the problem that the balls take 3.3 seconds to reach the ground. Substituting initial speed = 0, time = 3.3 seconds and acceleration = 9.8 meters/second², we get:

speed = 9.8 meters/second² × 3.3 seconds speed = 32.3 meters/second (116 Kilometers/hour)