A mechanic is cleaning a ball bearing when she accidentally drops it. The bearing has a mass of 0.200 kilogram and it falls a distance of 1.2 meter in air before going into a bucket of thick grease, where it comes to rest 8.00 centimeter beneath the surface of the grease. The bottom of the bucket is 25.0 centimeter below the surface of the grease.
(a) Find the speed of the ball just before it goes into the grease? State all assumptions, and list the physics principle(s) used.
(b) Determine the flight time of the ball bearing in air.
(c) Find the ball bearing's average acceleration from the moment it hits the grease until it comes to rest?
(d) Draw a free-body diagram for the ball bearing when it is 0.200 m above the grease.
(e) Sketch qualitative graphs of position, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time for the steel ball bearing from the moment it hits the grease until it comes to rest.