what is the speed of the coconut the moment it hits the ground

zero.

Brilliant, not to mention, right.

I tend to collide with lots of stuff. I'm very well acquainted with the moment of impact.

doh...

Is this a European or African coconut?

Is the ground coconuts and what does my gravitas have to do with it?

All this reminds me of Harry Belafonte.
(wonder how he is doing)

The mass is immaterial, as the force of gravity is proportional to the mass. (So a feather and a lead weight will have the same net acceleration, excluding the effects of air friction, even though they have vastly different masses.)

It's just a straight distance-over-time/final velocity question.


distance = 1/2 acceleration * time^2 + initial_velocity*time.

velocity = acceleration * time + initial_velocity



Initial velocity should be zero, so no worries there.

Solve for time in the distance equation, then plug in the numbers to get final velocity.

Monty Python Coconuts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqtS9xyl0f4

S=1/2at^2
s is distance (13 m), a is acceleration (9.8 m/s^2), t is time
reaggange to solve for time in seconds (hint there is no such thing as negative time).

then use
v=at
where v is velocity (m/s), a is acceleration (9.8 m/s^2) and t is time (s)

Rap

Mgh = 1/2 mv^2 = 4*9.8*13 ..implies.. v^2 = 254.8....implies.....v = 15.9 m/s....