Question

A toy cannon tosses a rubber ball straight upward. A motion sensor measures the speed of the ball as it leaves the cannon. Using the conservation of kinetic and gravitational potential energy, what can this information be used to calculate?

A. the mass of the ball
B. the friction within the cannon's barrel
C. the spring constant of the cannon
D. the maximum height that the rubber ball will reach

Answer 1

Option D

The maximum height that the rubber ball will reach

Step-by-step explanation:

Relating kinetic and potential energy then

`mgh=0.5mv^(2)`

Where m is the mass, g is acceleration due to gravity, h is maximum height reached, v is velocity.

Since both left and right hand side have mass, m then

`gh=0.5v^(2)`

Acceleration due to gravity is constant and velocity is measured by the sensor hence having the velocity we can make h the subject of the formula and obtain maximum height as

`h=\frac {v^(2)}{2g}`

Therefore, this information can help us to obtain the maximum height that the rubber ball will reach.