What does it mean to Initialize variables?

If a stationary ball is released at a height h_0 above the surface of the Earth with a vertical velocity〖 v〗_0, the position and velocity of the ball as a function of time will be given by the equations:

h(t)=  1/2 gt^2 + v_0 t + h_0
v(t)=  gt + v_0

where g is the acceleration due to gravity (-9.81 m/s^2), h is the height above the surface of the Earth (assuming no air friction), and v is the vertical component of velocity. Create variables for this problem

Initialize g, v_0= 1 m/s , and h_0=2 m

Initialize t to 1 second

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Initialize means to assign them a value for the first time. You might change their values afterwards or you might not.

For example,

total = x;
if y > 5
  total = total + y;
end

Here we could only have added y to total once we had already assigned a value to total. If the code had instead been

if y > 5
  total = total + y;
end

then it would have failed because total did not exist yet.

Answer 2

[Star Strider]

Initialised variables are the values of the variables at the beginning of the simulation, and the values of the constants in it.