Two cars are moving.The first car has twice the mass of the second car,but only half as much kinetic energy.Then,both cars increase their speed by 8.00 m/s.They then have the same kinetic energy.The original speeds of the two cars are,respectively,

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Given that the first car has twice the mass of the second car (m1 = 2m2) but only half as much kinetic energy (KE1 = 1/2 KE2) initially, and after increasing their speeds by 8.0 m/s, they have the same kinetic energy, we can deduce the initial speeds using the kinetic energy formula KE = 1/2 mv^2. The correct initial speeds that satisfy these conditions are 5.66 m/s for the first car and 11.3 m/s for the second car, as these values, when plugged into the kinetic energy formula and considering the speed increase, result in equal kinetic energies for both cars after the speed increase.

Two Cars Are Moving