Consider a ball thrown upward from the surface of the Earth, and the same ball t

Question

Consider a ball thrown upward from the surface of the Earth, and the same ball thrown upward from the surface of the moon with the same initial speed. (What does that imply about their maximum PE?) Construct a complete energy-system diagram for each of these situations. Then carefully plot a graph (on graph paper) of PEgravity vs. y (height) from the point of release to the maximum height for each ball. (Put both on the same graph.) Set the origin (where y = 0) at the height the ball is released. Assume that gmoon @ (1/6)gearth, and that the magnitude of the force of the moon on the ball is approximately 1/6 the magnitude of the force of the earth on the ball. How do the change in potential energy and the maximum height compare for the two situations? Make sure this is reflected in your graph. Consider a ball thrown upward from the surface of the Earth, and the same ball thrown upward from the surface of the moon with the same initial speed. (What does that imply about their maximum PE?) Construct a complete energy-system diagram for each of these situations. Then carefully plot a graph (on graph paper) of PEgravity vs. y (height) from the point of release to the maximum height for each ball. (Put both on the same graph.) Set the origin (where y = 0) at the height the ball is released. Assume that gmoon @ (1/6)gearth, and that the magnitude of the force of the moon on the ball is approximately 1/6 the magnitude of the force of the earth on the ball. How do the change in potential energy and the maximum height compare for the two situations? Make sure this is reflected in your graph. Consider a ball thrown upward from the surface of the Earth, and the same ball thrown upward from the surface of the moon with the same initial speed. (What does that imply about their maximum PE?) Construct a complete energy-system diagram for each of these situations. Then carefully plot a graph (on graph paper) of PEgravity vs. y (height) from the point of release to the maximum height for each ball. (Put both on the same graph.) Set the origin (where y = 0) at the height the ball is released. Assume that gmoon @ (1/6)gearth, and that the magnitude of the force of the moon on the ball is approximately 1/6 the magnitude of the force of the earth on the ball. How do the change in potential energy and the maximum height compare for the two situations? Make sure this is reflected in your graph.

Explanation / Answer

If PE = Potential energy, we can say a few things regarding the difference to the two different environments.

if both of the balls have the same initial speed, the ball on the moon will have both lower Kinetic Energy and lower PE, as PE=KE.
This is because of the fact that the moon has a lower gravitational pull then the earth, so there will be less force acting against the ball to pull it down, it means that it will reach a greater height then the ball on earth, but it will have less Energy, as both have the same initial speed. If we used the same energy to propel the ball on the moon as on the ground, it would rise 6 times as high, but as the moon has only a 1/6th of the gravitational pull. Time spent in the 'air', and height, respectively, have this relationship:

gravity on the moon is 1/6th that of the earth. the forces that act upon any object that is currently not supported or held above the surface of any planet are:
G, gravity, or how fast an object will accelerate downwards
F, friction. this is both air resistance, and, more accurately, atmosphere Resistance.

both of these are different on the moon, the gravity will be 1/6th of the earth, meaning the ball should technically take 6 times as long to reach its vertex, and again, 6 times as long to reach the ground. because of a much smaller atmosphere, and because we are not given any indication of the mass of this ball, nor its size, we cannot make a completely accurate statement on how much the Friction of the atmosphere will affect the actual fall.

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