The pliers fall from the top of a 574 feet tower. Its position is described by s = 16t². What is the velocity when the pliers falls 1 second and what is the velocity when the pliers reaches the ground?

First, find the velocity in terms of t seconds

At 1 seconds,

     v(t = 1) = 16 feet/second

Next, find the how many seconds (t_g) it takes for the pliers need to reach the ground.

     574 = 16t²

     t_g = 5.99 second

Thus the velocity of pliers to reach the ground is:

     v(g) = 16t_g = 95.8 feet/second

The velocity of the pliers is calculated by the method of limit. Is it possible to calculate the acceleration? The answer is yes. Using

In other words, the slope of the tangent line of the v-t curve at a specific point equals to the acceleration at that point.