Question

Jonah is pushing his younger sister, Jessica, on a swing. If Jessica weighs 350 newtons, how much higher above the ground must Jonah push her to increase her potential energy by 525 joules?

Answer 1

Jonah needs to push Jessica 1.5 meters higher above the ground to increase her potential energy by 525 joules, using the relationship between potential energy, weight, and height.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how much higher above the ground Jonah must push Jessica to increase her potential energy by 525 joules, we can use the formula for potential energy: Potential Energy (PE) = mass (m) × gravity (g) × height (h). In this case, Jessica weighs 350 newtons, which is the force of gravity acting on her mass. Since weight is already a product of mass and gravity (W = m×g), we can simplify the formula to PE = W×h where W is the weight.

The task is to solve for h when the increase in potential energy is given as 525 joules. Using the formula,
525 J = 350 N × h. Dividing both sides by 350 N gives us
h = 525 J / 350 N, which simplifies to h = 1.5 m.

Therefore, Jonah needs to push Jessica 1.5 meters higher above the ground to increase her potential energy by 525 joules.