Free Fall

Free Fall Under Gravity

Near Earth's surface, gravity accelerates every object downward at:

$g = 9.81 \ \text{m/s}^2$

For an object with initial downward velocity $v_0$, the distance fallen after time $t$ is:

$h(t) = v_0 t + \frac{1}{2}g t^2$

The first term is the constant-velocity contribution. The second term is the quadratic acceleration term — it grows as $t^2$.

Examples

Galileo's Insight

Galileo showed that the distance fallen from rest is proportional to $t^2$. Doubling the fall time quadruples the distance fallen. Mass does not appear — all objects fall at the same rate (ignoring air resistance).

Your Task

Implement fallHeight(v0, t) returning the distance fallen in metres.