Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

If I have a rugby player running at 30km/h and he passes the ball sideways to another player who catches it 10m to the side of him, how far will the ball travel in a forward motion. Is there a formula for this?
Thanks in advance

GeoffS,

This sounds like a homework question vs a science project question. However, that being said, you are missing a critical piece of information. In this case, the ball is traveling forward at 30km/hr (same rate as the 1st player) so the forward motion distance depends on how long it takes the ball to cross the 10m between the players.

For example: first some conversions 30km/hr = 30,000m/hr ÷ 60min/hr ÷ 60s/min = 8.33m/s

if it takes 2s for player 2 to catch the ball then 8.33m/s × 2s = 16.67m

But you need to know how fast the ball is passed laterally.