Question

derek is shooting a basketball and exerts a force on the ball causing it to travel a certain distance which of the following best describes how the work he does on the ball is determined?

answer choices:

the work depends only on the distance the ball travels regardless of the force exerted

the work is determined by multiplying the force derek exerts by the distance the ball travels in the direction of the force

the work depends only on the force exerted by derek regardless of how far the ball travels

the work derek does on the ball is unrelated to the force or distance as it depends only on the balls weight

Answers

GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:

**the work is determined by multiplying the force Derek exerts by the distance the ball travels in the direction of the force.**

Work is defined as the product of the force applied to an object and the distance the object moves in the direction of that force. Mathematically, it's expressed as:

\[ \text{Work} = \text{Force} \times \text{Distance} \times \cos(\theta) \]

where \( \theta \) is the angle between the force and the direction of motion. In this case, if the force is applied in the same direction as the movement of the ball, \( \theta \) would be 0 degrees, making \( \cos(0) = 1\). Therefore, work done is simply the force multiplied by the distance.

Related Questions