Question

The prosecution in a robbery trial has hired you as a consultant. The defendant allegedly robbed a band and, to escape the pursuing security guards, took the express elevator to the roof of the building. A witness on the roof recalls seeing the alleged thief throwing a large bag horizontally to a waiting accomplice on the roof of the next building. However, the defense attorney contends that in order to reach the roof of that next building, the defendant would have had to throw the bag with a minimum velocity of 10 meters/second and that in a test, the accused could throw the bag with a maximum horizontal velocity of no more than 5 meters/second. How will you advise the prosecuting attorney? You determine that the bank building is 250 meters high, the next building is 100 meters high and the distance between them is 20 meters.

Answer 1