A student drops a ball three different times.

Question

The table shows the ball’s kinetic energy upon hitting the ground from different heights.

The student claims that a ball dropped 3.0 meters would have fewer than 96 joules of kinetic energy upon hitting the ground. Is she correct? Why?

(1 point)
Responses

She is right! The higher the drop, the less kinetic energy the ball will have upon hitting the ground.
She is right! The higher the drop, the less kinetic energy the ball will have upon hitting the ground.

She is wrong. The higher the drop, the less kinetic the ball will have upon hitting the ground.
She is wrong. The higher the drop, the less kinetic the ball will have upon hitting the ground.

She is wrong. The higher the drop, the more kinetic energy the ball will have upon hitting the ground.
She is wrong. The higher the drop, the more kinetic energy the ball will have upon hitting the ground.

She is right! The higher the drop, the greater kinetic the ball will have upon hitting the ground.
She is right! The higher the drop, the greater kinetic the ball will have upon hitting the ground.
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Answer 1

The correct response to the student's claim is:

She is wrong. The higher the drop, the more kinetic energy the ball will have upon hitting the ground.

The kinetic energy of an object just before it hits the ground is equal to the gravitational potential energy it had at the height from which it was dropped. This means that the higher the drop, the more gravitational potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, resulting in a higher kinetic energy just before impact. Therefore, a ball dropped from a height of 3.0 meters would indeed have more than 96 joules of kinetic energy, assuming there are no other forces (like air resistance) significantly affecting its fall.