Question

An athlete is practicing shotput using a 16-pound shot, and he throws it 40 feet. He then uses a 12-pound shot and throws it 50 feet. In three to four sentences, explain why there is a difference in these throws using the ideas of mass and speed and how each relates to kinetic energy. (Make sure a 3rd grader can understand you)

Answer 1

The athlete threw the 12-pound shot farther than the 16-pound shot because the lighter shot is easier to throw faster. When you throw something, its speed and mass both affect how far it goes. The kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion, depends on both the weight of the shot and how fast it's moving. Since the lighter shot could be thrown faster, it had more energy to travel a longer distance, even though it was lighter.