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The sloth is one of the slowest creatures on earth. Despite being slow, they are really good swimmers! How fast must the sloth swim if they have a mass of 7.2 kg and 0.05 joules of kinetic energy?

User Vivien
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Final answer:

The sloth must swim at approximately 0.11785 m/s to have 0.05 joules of kinetic energy given its mass of 7.2 kg.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how fast the sloth must swim if they have a mass of 7.2 kg and 0.05 joules of kinetic energy, we can use the formula for kinetic energy (KE): KE = (1/2)mv², where m is the mass and v is the velocity. Solving for velocity, we rearrange the formula to v = sqrt((2*KE)/m). Plugging in the values given, we have v = sqrt((2*0.05 joules)/(7.2 kg)) = sqrt((0.1)/7.2) = sqrt(0.013888...). The square root of 0.013888... is approximately 0.11785 meters per second.

Therefore, the sloth must swim at approximately 0.11785 m/s to have 0.05 joules of kinetic energy.

User Steve Ebersole
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