NASA operates a 2.2-second drop tower at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. At this facility, experimental packages are dropped from the top of the tower, on the 8th floor of the building. During their 2.2 seconds of free fall, the packages experience a microgravity environment similar to that of a spacecraft in orbit.
(a) What is the drop distance of a 2.2-s tower?
(b) How fast are the packages traveling when they hit the air bags at the bottom of the tower?
(c) If an experimental package comes to rest over a distance of 0.75 m upon hitting the air bags, what is the average stopping acceleration?