Question

origional launch speed

(6 pts) In “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” Gilderoy Lockhart uses magic and a snake flies straight up reaching a maximum height above the ground of ,. Ignore air resistance and assume that the usual rules of physics apply immediately after the spell is cast. • What is the original launch speed of the snake at the ground? BONUS: Redo the previous problem using different physics. That is, if you used wave analysis the first time you solved #7, try electricity this time.

Answer 1

As numerical values are missing I'll try to provide an algebraic expression of the launch speed.

At the start of the spell cast, the snake has only kinetic energy and no potential energy

At the topmost point, the snake has only potential energy and no kinetic energy.

Energy at these two points must be equal(due to conservation of energy) so,

$\frac{1}{2}mv^2=mgh$

$or,\ v=\sqrt{2gh}$

m is the mass of the snake, g is the acceleration due to gravity, h is the max height attained by the snake