A person throws a ball up into the air, and the ball falls back toward Earth. At which point would the kinetic energy be the lowest?
a point before the ball hits the ground
at a point before the ball hits the ground
at a point when the ball is still rising
at a point when the ball is still rising
when the ball is at its highest point
when the ball is at its highest point
when the ball leaves the person’s hand
The kinetic energy of the ball would be lowest at its highest point when the ball momentarily stops at the top of its trajectory before beginning to fall back towards Earth. At this point, all the kinetic energy has been transformed into potential energy. As the ball falls back down towards Earth, potential energy gets converted back to kinetic energy.
To determine at which point the kinetic energy of the ball is the lowest, we need to understand the relationship between kinetic energy and the ball's motion.
Kinetic energy is defined as the energy possessed by an object due to its motion. The formula for kinetic energy is:
Kinetic Energy (KE) = 1/2 * mass * velocity^2
From this formula, we can observe two factors that affect the kinetic energy of the ball: mass and velocity.
When the ball is at its highest point, it has stopped momentarily and is about to change direction and fall back towards the ground. At this point, the velocity of the ball is zero, since it has come to a stop. As a result, the kinetic energy of the ball is also zero because any value multiplied by zero is zero.
Therefore, when the ball is at its highest point, the kinetic energy of the ball is the lowest.
The kinetic energy of an object is given by the equation KE = (1/2)mv^2, where m is the mass of the object and v is its velocity.
When the ball leaves the person's hand, it has an initial velocity and zero height. Therefore, the kinetic energy at this point is not zero, but rather its maximum value.
As the ball rises, its velocity decreases due to the gravitational force, so the kinetic energy decreases as well. Therefore, at a point when the ball is still rising, the kinetic energy would be lower than when it left the person's hand.
When the ball reaches its highest point, its velocity is zero, and thus the kinetic energy is also zero at this point.
As the ball falls back toward the Earth, its velocity increases, and so does the kinetic energy. Therefore, the kinetic energy would be lowest at the highest point of the ball's trajectory when the ball is momentarily at rest.