An airplane carries 320 passengers from Phoenix to Los Angeles flying at an average speed of 490 miles per hour. On the return flight, the plane carries 164 passengers and travels at the same average speed. What happens to the plane’s kinetic energy?(1 point)

Question

An airplane carries 320 passengers from Phoenix to Los Angeles flying at an average speed of 490 miles per hour. On the return flight, the plane carries 164 passengers and travels at the same average speed. What happens to the plane’s kinetic energy?(1 point)
Responses

On the return flight, the plane has less kinetic energy.
On the return flight, the plane has less kinetic energy.

The plane’s kinetic energy is the same on both flights.
The plane’s kinetic energy is the same on both flights.

The plane’s kinetic energy is changed to potential energy when it lands.
The plane’s kinetic energy is changed to potential energy when it lands.

On the return flight, the plane has more kinetic energy.
On the return flight, the plane has more kinetic energy.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The correct response is: **On the return flight, the plane has less kinetic energy.** Kinetic energy is given by the formula $ KE = \frac{1}{2} mv^2 $, where $ m $ is the mass of the airplane (including passengers) and $ v $ is its velocity. While the speed remains the same, the mass of the airplane changes between the two flights due to the difference in the number of passengers (320 on the outbound flight vs. 164 on the return flight). With less mass on the return flight, the kinetic energy of the airplane decreases.