Question

Pedro and Perla are grocery shopping. Pedro throws a banana at Perla to get her attention. Perla picks up a cantaloupe, which is 5 times heavier, and throws it at Pedro with the same speed that he threw the banana. How much more kinetic energy does the cantaloupe have

Answer 1

The cantaloupe has a kinetic energy that is 5 times that of the banana.

Step-by-step explanation:

Kinetic energy (KE) =
`(1)/(2)`m
`v^(2)`

where m is the mass of the object and v its velocity.

For the banana, let its mass be represented by m and its velocity by v.

So that:

Kinetic energy of the banana =
`(1)/(2)`m
`v^(2)`

For the cantaloupe, given that its mass is 5 times that of banana (5m) but has the same speed as that of banana.

Then,

kinetic energy of the cantaloupe =
`(1)/(2)` 5m
`v^(2)`

=
`(5)/(2)`m
`v^(2)`

= 5(
`(1)/(2)`m
`v^(2)`)

= 5 x kinetic energy of the banana

The cantaloupe has a kinetic energy that is 5 times that of the banana.