Question

Water drops fall from the edge of a roof at a steady rate. A fifth drop starts to fall just as the first drop hits the ground. At this instant, the second and third drops are exactly at the bottom and top edges of a 1.00-m-tall window. How high is the edge of the roof?

Short answer

The edge of the roof is 4-meters above the ground.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Write the given information.

The distance between the third and the second drop is 1 m
Let the distance of the roof from the ground is H

Step 2. To determine the distance of the roof from ground

It is given that the water drops are falling on the ground at a steady rate. Therefore, it suggests that each water drop is at an equal distance from the other.
Since drop 3 and drop 2 are at a 1-meter distance as shown in the figure.

The distance between each drop is 1-meter. Thus the distance between drop 1 and drop 5 is 4 meters.

Hence, the roof is 4-meters above the ground.