Question

You stand on a balcony and throw a bouncy ball upwards with 7.2 J of kinetic energy the ball has 8.3 J of gravitational potential energy when it left your hand how much total energy does the ball have as it leaves your hand

Answer 1

15.5 J

Step-by-step explanation:

The total (mechanical) energy of an object is given by

E = K + U

where

K is the kinetic energy

U is the gravitational potential energy

The ball in the problem, when it left the hand, has:

K = 7.2 J (kinetic energy)

U = 8.3 J (potential energy)

So, its total mechanical energy is

E = 7.2 + 8.3 = 15.5 J