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upon leaving her club, the golf ball moved upward to a height above the surrounding trees. is the ke and pe increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?

User Geoff Dawdy
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1 Answer

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ANSWER

PE increases and KE decreases

Step-by-step explanation

As described, the golf ball is moving and changing its height, like in the following diagram,

By the law of conservation of energy, the total energy when the ball starts moving and during the whole motion until it stops, must be the same. This total energy is the sum of the potential energy and the kinetic energy.

When the club hits the ball, it gives it a certain amount of kinetic energy but no potential energy. As the ball starts going uphill, the potential energy starts to increase, since it depends on the height of the object. Therefore, to maintain the total energy constant, the kinetic energy must decrease.

upon leaving her club, the golf ball moved upward to a height above the surrounding-example-1
User Quisse
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