Question

Suppose a red car passes by with a certain velocity v. A blue car then passes by with a velocity of 2v. How much more KE does the blue car have compared to the red car?

Answer 1

The blue car has four times more kinetic energy than the red car.

Step-by-step explanation:

The kinetic energy (KE) of an object is given by the formula:

KE = 1/2 m v^2

where:

- (m) is the mass of the object,

- (v) is its velocity.

Let's consider two cars, a red car with velocity \(v\) and a blue car with velocity (2v). The kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the velocity. Therefore, we can compare the kinetic energies of the two cars as follows:

KE_blue / KE_red = {1 / 2 m (2v)^2} / {1 / 2 m v^2}

Simplify the expression:

KE_blue / KE_red = 2^2 / 1^2

KE_blue / KE_red = 4

So, the blue car has 4 times more kinetic energy than the red car.