Since the ball is moving first up and then down, the best way to look at it is as two halves.
The equation for motion is: Vf = Vi + a*t
(where Vf
is the final velocity, Vi
is the initial velocity, a
is the acceleration, and t
is the time).
Since the ball is at 0 speed when at the top (end of the first half and just before starting to fall down) and gravity is "working" against the upwards movement, the equation becomes:
0 = 19.6 + (-9.8) * t
Therefore:
t = 2
The second half takes the same time down, since the ball is falling from the same height it reached at the end of the first half. So the total time is 4
seconds.
Since the ball's speed is changing, we should use the following equation to find the distance traveled (for each half):
x = Vo * t + 1/2 * a * t2
So:
x = 19.6 * 2 + 1/2 * (-9.8) * 22 = 39.2
The ball traveled 19.6
meters twice, for a total distance of 39.2
meters.
The average speed is the total distance traveled divided by the total time:
avg speed = 39.2/4 = 9.8 m/s