Programming Challenge 6.5 - Falling Distance

/* Falling Distance - When an object is falling because of gravity, the
   following formula can be used to determine the distance the object
   falls in a specific time period.
 
   * d = 1/2gt²
 
   The variables in the formula are as follows:
 
   * d: distance in meters
   * g: 9.8
   * t: amount of time (seconds) the object is falling
 
   The following function is used:
 
   * fallingDistance()
 
   This program demonstrates the function by calling it in a loop that
   passes the values 1 through 10 as arguments, and displays the return
   value. */

#include "Utility.h"

/* Prototype: Falling Distance */
double fallingDistance(double);

int main()
{
   /* Variable: Falling time */
   double distance = 0.0;

   /* Display: Information, Header */
   cout << "\t\tFree Falling Object Demo\n\n"
        << "This program demonstrates the function 'fallingDistance'\n"
        << "which calculates the distance an object falls in a specific\n"
        << "amount of time in seconds.\n\n";

   cout << "After second(s):" << "\t" << "The ball has fallen:"
        << "\n------------------------------------------------------\n";

   /* This loop calls fallingTime ten times, falling time, declared in
      the loop header, passes fallingTime as argument to the function
      fallingDistance, receives the return value stored in the variable
      "distance", and displays both time and distance in meters/sec. */ 
   for (double fallingTime = 1; fallingTime <= 10; fallingTime++)
   {
      distance = fallingDistance(fallingTime);

      /* Set up: Formatted numeric output
         Display: Time and Falling distance */
      cout << fixed << showpoint << setprecision(2);

      cout << setw(8) << left << fallingTime
           << "\t\t\t " << setw(8) << right << distance << " m.\n";
   }

   pauseSystem();
   return 0;
}

/* **********************************************************
   Definition: fallingDistance

   This function accepts an object's falling time in seconds
   as an argument. It returns the distance in meters that the
   object has fallen during that time interval.
   ********************************************************** */

double fallingDistance(double fallingTime)
{
   /* Static local variable: Acceleration (gravity) */
   static double acceleration = 9.8;

   /* Variable: Falling Distance */
   double distance = 0.0;

   /* Calculation: Falling distance */
   distance = acceleration * pow(fallingTime, 2) / 2;

   /* Return: Falling distance */
   return distance;
}