Two city buses are traveling at 24 miles per hour. The buses are the same model and year. One bus has 30 passengers. The other bus has 12 passengers. Which is the best prediction?(1 point)

Question

Responses

The bus with 30 passengers will have less kinetic energy.

The buses will have the same amount of kinetic energy.

The bus with 12 passengers will have less kinetic energy.

The buses’ kinetic energies will depend on their routes.

Answer 1

To determine which bus has more kinetic energy, we can use the formula for kinetic energy:

\[ KE = \frac{1}{2} mv^2 \]

where \( KE \) is the kinetic energy, \( m \) is the mass (in this case, the total mass of the bus plus passengers), and \( v \) is the velocity.

Both buses are traveling at the same speed (24 miles per hour), so the velocity component will be constant for both buses. The bus with 30 passengers will have a greater total mass than the bus with 12 passengers, assuming the buses themselves are of the same model and weight.

Since kinetic energy depends on mass and speed, the bus with 30 passengers will have more kinetic energy than the bus with 12 passengers.

Therefore, the best prediction is:

The bus with 12 passengers will have less kinetic energy.