A ball is dropped from the top of a building.You choose the top to be the refere

Question

A ball is dropped from the top of a building.You choose the top to be the reference level, while your friendchooses the bottom. Do the two of you agree on
a) the ball's potential energy at any point?
b)the change in the ball's potential energy as a result of thefall?
c) the kinetic energy of the ball at any point? A ball is dropped from the top of a building.You choose the top to be the reference level, while your friendchooses the bottom. Do the two of you agree on
a) the ball's potential energy at any point?
b)the change in the ball's potential energy as a result of thefall?
c) the kinetic energy of the ball at any point?

Explanation / Answer

Part A) No. you will believe that the ball has zero initialpotential energy and it is decreasing until it hits theground. Your friend will believe it has a positive initialpotential energy and it is decreasing until it reaches zero atground level. Part B) Yes. You both agree that the ball has fallen the samedistance downward. Part C) No, I don't think so. You will agree on the magnitudeof the kinetic energy, but differ on the direction. Accordingto you, the ball is gaining potential energy and losing kineticenergy (moving away from your reference point). According toyour friend, the ball is losing potential energy and gainingkinetic energy (moving toward your reference point).

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