Question

1 Which statement BEST describes how a golf club does "work" on a golf ball? (A) When the club hits the ball the club transfers all of its kinetic energy to the ball. (B) All of the kinetic energy from the club is transferred to the ball as they both move through the air. (C) Some of the kinetic energy from the golf club is transferred to the ball and some transforms into sound and heat, but the total energy remains the same. (D) The golf club loses kinetic energy when it hits the ball and the ball gains kinetic energy from the air as it travels.

Answer 1

Answer:

(C) Some of the kinetic energy from the golf club is transferred to the ball and some transforms into sound and heat, but the total energy remains the same.

Explanation:

According to the law of conservation of energy, the total energy of a closed system is constant.

In this problem, the main type of energy involved is the kinetic energy.

Kinetic energy is the energy possessed by an object due to its motion; mathematically, it is calculated as

$K=\frac{1}{2}mv^2$

where

m is the mass of the object

v is its speed

In this problem, at the beginning, the golf club is moving, therefore it has kinetic energy.

Then, the club hits the ball, which is put in motion: therefore, the ball has acquired kinetic energy as well. This energy has been transferred from the golf club, which has therefore lost part of its energy.

At the same time, sound and heat are produced in the collision between the golf club and the ball. Since the total energy must be conserved, this means that the initial kinetic energy of the golf club must be equal to the sum of ball's kinetic energy + sound energy + heat energy released in the collision.