A water balloon is thrown at 20 m/s from the top of a 20 m high building, what is its speed when it hits the ground? Does the angle matter?

The final velocity is 28.14 m/s

Yes the angle of projection matters

Explanation:

Given;

initial velocity of the water balloon, u = 20 m/s

height of the building, h = 20 m

let the final speed of the ball when it hits the ground = v

The final speed is calculated as follows;

v² = u² + 2gh

v² = (20)²  +  2(9.8)(20)

v² = 400 + 392

v² = 792

v = √792

v = 28.14 m/s

Yes the angle matters, if the balloon had been dropped at a certain angle, the final velocity would have been estimated using the following formula;

where;

θ is the angle of projection, which accounts for the vertical component of the velocity.

wavelength divides in half and speed stays the same.