Calculate the Initial Speed of a Soccer Ball

What is the initial speed of the soccer ball?

A soccer ball is kicked with an initial horizontal velocity of 17 m/s and an initial vertical velocity of 20 m/s. What is the initial speed of the ball?

Final answer:

The initial speed of the soccer ball can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem and is found to be approximately 26.24 meters per second.

The initial speed of a soccer ball that is kicked with an initial horizontal velocity of 17 m/s and an initial vertical velocity of 20 m/s can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem. The theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse (the initial speed, in this case) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides (the horizontal and vertical velocities).

To find the initial speed, we use the following equation: initial speed = √(horizontal velocity)^2 + √(vertical velocity)^2. Substituting the values, we get initial speed = √(17 m/s)^2 + √(20 m/s)^2 ≈ √(289 + 400) m^2/s^2 ≈ 26.24 m/s. Therefore, the initial speed of the ball is approximately 26.24 meters per second.