Physics Softball Lab

We had a physics lab where we threw a softball into the air and measured the time in seconds only. My time was 2.51 seconds (in total it took the ball from release until it hit the ground).

Questions:
1. What is the initial vertical velocity of ball in meters per second: I calculated 12.31 m/s...

2. We did not take into account the height of release. How did this effect the results? Explain

3. The data taken only allowed us to determine the initial vertical velocity of the softball. What
additional information would be needed to determine the actual initial velocity? Explain how
that determination would be calculated.

Hello

the time needed to reach the top height is t(up) = v0/g
and this time t(up) = 1/2 of the total time = 1.255 s

1.225 = v0/g
v0 = g*t(up)
v0 = 1.225*9.81 = 12.017 m/s.
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the time down would be larger than the time up.
the time up would therefore be smaller than 1.225 seconds,
which would make v0 smaller than 12.017 m/s
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the vertical initial velocity is v0*sin(angle with the horizontal).
So v0 = (vertical initial velocity)/sin(angle)

Regards