Question

Shawn and his bike have a total mass of 45.8 kg. Shawn rides his bike 0.58 km in 11 min at a constant velocity. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s². What is Shawn's kinetic energy? Answer in units of J.

Answer 1

Shawn's kinetic energy while riding his bike at a constant velocity is calculated to be approximately 17.702 joules, using the provided distance and time to first determine his velocity, then applying the kinetic energy formula.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate Shawn's kinetic energy, we can use the formula for kinetic energy (KE), which is KE = 0.5 × mass × velocity^2. However, the question does not provide the velocity directly but gives distance and time, so we first need to find the velocity by dividing the distance by time. Having calculated the velocity, we can then plug it into the kinetic energy formula.

The distance Shawn travels is 0.58 km, which is 580 meters (since 1 km equals 1000 meters). The time taken is 11 minutes, which is 660 seconds (since 1 minute equals 60 seconds). Thus, Shawn's constant velocity is 580 meters / 660 seconds = 0.878787 m/s (rounded to six decimal places).

Now applying the kinetic energy formula, we have:

KE = 0.5 × 45.8 kg × (0.878787 m/s)^2

KE = 0.5 × 45.8 × 0.77259 (rounded to five decimal places)

KE = 17.702 J (rounded to three decimal places)

Therefore, Shawn's kinetic energy while riding his bike at a constant velocity is approximately 17.702 joules.