Question

A marble, a bowling ball, a basketball, and a baseball are rolling across the floor at 10 m/s. Which one has the greatest

kinetic energy?
the marble
the bowling ball
the basketball
the baseball

Answer 1

The bowling ball

Step-by-step explanation:

The kinetic energy of an object is given by:

`K=(1)/(2)mv^2`

where

m is the mass of the object

v is its speed

In the problem, all the balls have same speed v: so their difference in kinetic energy will depend on their mass only.

We don't know the exact masses of the balls, however we can assume that the bowling ball has the largest mass among them: therefore, the bowling ball will also have the greatest kinetic energy.