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

Answer 1

The correct response is:

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

When a ball is dropped from a height, it converts gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy as it falls. Therefore, a ball dropped from a greater height, such as 3.0 meters, would have more kinetic energy upon hitting the ground than a ball dropped from a lower height. Thus, the claim that it would have fewer than 96 joules of kinetic energy is incorrect if, based on the previous data, a drop from 3.0 meters yields more kinetic energy.