Question

A tennis ball is hit into the air with a racket. When is the ball’s kinetic energy the greatest? Ignore air resistance.

A when it leaves the racket

B just before it reaches the ground

C when it reaches its maximum height

D when its kinetic energy and potential energy are equal

E just before it starts falling downward

Answer 1

E. just before it reaches the ground.

Step-by-step explanation:

The "kinetic energy" refers to the energy when an object moves or is in motion. When the ball leaves the racket, it is considered to have a great amount of kinetic energy. However, this decreases as the ball reaches its maximum height, but the potential energy is at its highest. Upon falling down, its kinetic energy increases but its potential energy decreases.

Provided that there's no air resistance, the speed of falling is even faster for the ball because of gravity and nothing is slowing it down, which means it will have a maximum kinetic energy just before it reaches the ground.