When a loose brick is resting on a wall, it has energy. When the brick is pushed off the wall and is falling down, the amount of
2 answers:
The complete sentence is as follows:
When a loose brick is resting on a wall, it has potential energy. When the brick is pushed off the wall and is falling down, the amount of potential energy is decreasing while the amount of kinetic energy is increasing.
Explanation:
- Potential energy is the energy related to the position of an object: in particular, gravitational potential energy is given by
where m is the mass of the object, g is the gravitational acceleration, and h is the height of the object above the ground.
- Kinetic energy is the energy related to the motion of an object, and it is given by
where m is the mass and v the speed of the object.
In the example, we see that:
- at the beginning, the brick is at rest on the wall, so it only has potential energy due to its height above the ground (while the kinetic energy is zero, since it is at rest, so speed v is zero)
- as it falls down, the potential energy decreases, because the height h decreases, while the kinetic energy increases, because the speed of the object increases as it falls down.
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Answer:
a) The maximum height reached by the projectile is 558 m.
b) The projectile was 21.3 s in the air.
Explanation:
The position and velocity of the projectile at any time "t" is given by the following vectors:
r = (x0 + v0 · t · cos α, y0 + v0 · t · sin α + 1/2 · g · t²)
v = (v0 · cos α, v0 · sin α + g · t)
Where:
r = position vector at time "t"
x0 = initial horizontal position
v0 = initial velocity
t = time
α = launching angle
y0 = initial vertical position
g = acceleration due to gravity (-9.80 m/s² considering the upward direction as positive).
v = velocity vector at time t
a) Notice in the figure that at maximum height the velocity vector is horizontal. That means that the y-component of the velocity (vy) at that time is 0. Using this, we can find the time at which the projectile is at maximum height:
vy = v0 · sin α + g · t
0 = 175 m/s · sin 36.7° - 9.80 m/s² · t
- 175 m/s · sin 36.7° / - 9.80 m/s² = t
t = 10.7 s
Now, we have to find the magnitude of the y-component of the vector position at that time to obtain the maximum height (In the figure, the vector position at t = 10.7 s is r1 and its y-component is r1y).
Notice in the figure that the frame of reference is located at the launching point, so that y0 = 0.
y = y0 + v0 · t · sin α + 1/2 · g · t²
y = 175 m/s · 10.7 s · sin 36.7° - 1/2 · 9.8 m/s² · (10.7 s)²
y = 558 m
The maximum height reached by the projectile is 558 m
b) Since the motion of the projectile is parabolic and the acceleration is the same during all the trajectory, the time of flight will be twice the time it takes the projectile to reach the maximum height. Then, the time of flight of the projectile will be (2 · 10.7 s) 21.4 s. However, let´s calculate it using the equation for the position of the projectile.
We know that at final time the y-component of the vector position (r final in the figure) is 0 (because the vector is horizontal, see figure). Then:
y = y0 + v0 · t · sin α + 1/2 · g · t²
0 = 175 m/s · t · sin 36.7° - 1/2 · 9.8 m/s² · t²
0 = t (175 m/s · sin 36.7 - 1/2 · 9.8 m/s² · t)
0 = 175 m/s · sin 36.7 - 1/2 · 9.8 m/s² · t
- 175 m/s · sin 36.7 / -(1/2 · 9.8 m/s²) = t
t = 21.3 s
The projectile was 21.3 s in the air.
