As shown below, a student places a 500-gram car at point X on a wooden racetrack in an energy transformation investigation. What outcome is most likely if the student uses a 700-gram car instead? (1 point) Responses A 700-gram car would have more kinetic energy at point X and less potential energy at the bottom of the racetrack A 700-gram car would have more kinetic energy at point X and less potential energy at the bottom of the racetrack A 700-gram car would have more potential energy at point X and more kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack A 700-gram car would have more potential energy at point X and more kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack A 700-gram car would have less potential energy at point X and less kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack A 700-gram car would have less potential energy at point X and less kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack A 700-gram car would have less kinetic energy at point X and less potential energy at the bottom of the racetrack
A 700-gram car would have more kinetic energy at point X and less potential energy at the bottom of the racetrack
The correct response is:
A 700-gram car would have more potential energy at point X and more kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack.
To determine the outcome of using a 700-gram car instead of a 500-gram car at point X on the wooden racetrack, we need to consider the concept of energy transformation.
In this case, we can assume that the cars start from rest and are released from point X and roll down the racetrack due to the force of gravity.
When the 500-gram car is released from point X, it will initially have potential energy due to its height above the ground. As it rolls down the racetrack, this potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion. At the bottom of the racetrack, all of the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, and the car will have reached its maximum speed.
Now, if we replace the 500-gram car with a 700-gram car at point X, we need to consider the effects of the increased mass on the energy transformation.
Since energy is conserved, the total energy at point X should remain the same for both cars. However, the distribution of potential and kinetic energy will change.
A car with more mass will have more potential energy at point X because it has a greater gravitational potential energy due to its higher mass and height above the ground. Therefore, a 700-gram car would have more potential energy at point X compared to a 500-gram car.
As the heavier car rolls down the racetrack, it will convert more of its potential energy into kinetic energy due to its increased mass. This means that the 700-gram car would also have more kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack compared to the 500-gram car.
Therefore, the most likely outcome if the student uses a 700-gram car instead of a 500-gram car is that the 700-gram car would have more potential energy at point X and more kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack.
Hence, the correct response would be:
A 700-gram car would have more potential energy at point X and more kinetic energy at the bottom of the racetrack.