Question

A 15.0 kg chunk of ice falls off the top of an iceberg. If the chunk of ice falls 8.00m to to the surface of the water, what is the kinetic energy of the chunk of ice when it hits the water, and what is its velocity

Answer 1

When we can get the Kinetic energy from this formula KE= 1/2 M V^2
and we can get the potential energy from this formula PE = M g H

we can set that the kinetic energy at the bottom of the fall equals the potential energy at the top so,
KE = PE
1/2 MV^2 = M g H
1/2 V^2 = g H
when V is the velocity, g is an acceleration of gravitational force and H is the height of the fall.
∴ v^2 = 2 * 9.8 * 8 = 156.8
∴ v= √156.8 = 12.5 m/s