I don't necessarily need a specific answer, but I could use a hint, direction, or maybe some reading material.
The question states:
A rubber ball is shot straight up from the ground with speed $V(0)$. Simultaneously, a second rubber ball at height $h$ is directly above the first ball is dropped from rest.
a) At what height above the ground do both balls collide. Your answer will be an algebraic expression in terms of $h$, $V(0)$, and $g$.
b) What is the maximum value of $h$ for which a collision occurs before the first ball falls back to the ground?
c) For what value of $h$ doe the collision occur at the instant when the first ball is at its highest point?
I have solved A and found the answer to be: $d = h - \frac{gh}{2V(0)}$ EDIT: After redoing the problem, the answer comes out to be: $d=h-\frac{gh^2}{2V(0)^2}$ I believe this is correct, but I am completely stumped on questions b and c.
EDIT: I'm also not sure whether or not $h$ is meant to represent the height the second ball starts at or the distance between the balls at any given moment. It seems I haven't solved the first part correctly, so I'll post my work on it:
I plugged the variables I received into the function:
$\text{Distance} = d_0 + V_0 + \frac{1}{2}at^2$
(where $d_0$ is the starting distance, $V_0$ is the starting velocity, $a$ is acceleration, $t$ is time), to describe the position functions for the two balls as:
$d_0 = V(0)t - \frac{1}{2}gt^2$
$d_1 = h - \frac{1}{2}gt^2$
I set $d_0 = d_1$, but I'm not sure what I should be solving for. I can solve it as:
$V(0)t = h$
But I can't find any kind of use for this.