What determines an object's kinetic energy?
Responses
Mass and speed
Mass and speed
Weight and position
Weight and position
Mass and position
Mass and position
Weight and speed
Mass and speed
The correct answer is: Mass and speed determines an object's kinetic energy.
The correct answer is "Mass and speed."
To understand how mass and speed determine an object's kinetic energy, let's break it down:
1. Mass: Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the mass of an object. The greater the mass, the more kinetic energy it will have. This means that objects with larger masses will possess more energy when moving at the same speed as objects with smaller masses.
2. Speed: Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the square of the speed of an object. This means that as the speed of an object increases, its kinetic energy increases substantially. For example, doubling the speed of an object will result in four times the amount of kinetic energy.
Combining mass and speed, the equation for kinetic energy is:
Kinetic energy = (1/2) * mass * speed^2
Therefore, both mass and speed are crucial factors in determining an object's kinetic energy.