Asked by VJC
Suppose a spacecraft of rest mass 34000 kg is accelerated to 0.206c. How much kinetic energy would it have?
If you used the classical formula for KE, by what percentage would you be in error? Do not enter units.
If you used the classical formula for KE, by what percentage would you be in error? Do not enter units.
Answers
Answered by
drwls
The exact relativistic KE is
mc^2*[1/sqrt[(1 -(v/c)^2] - 1]
= 3.4*10^5*(3.00*10^8)^2*(1.02192-1)
= 6.71*10^20 J
The nonrelativistic (classical) KE is
(1/2)M V^2 = (1/2)*(3.4*10^5)(6.18*10^7)^2 = 6.49*10^20
The percent error (relative to the correct value) is -3.1%
mc^2*[1/sqrt[(1 -(v/c)^2] - 1]
= 3.4*10^5*(3.00*10^8)^2*(1.02192-1)
= 6.71*10^20 J
The nonrelativistic (classical) KE is
(1/2)M V^2 = (1/2)*(3.4*10^5)(6.18*10^7)^2 = 6.49*10^20
The percent error (relative to the correct value) is -3.1%
There are no AI answers yet. The ability to request AI answers is coming soon!
Submit Your Answer
We prioritize human answers over AI answers.
If you are human, and you can answer this question, please submit your answer.