Mutual Attraction and Kinetic Energy – Rankers Physics
Topic: Center of Mass , Momentum and Collision
Subtopic: Momentum Conservation

Mutual Attraction and Kinetic Energy

Assertion (A): Two objects are moving towards each other due to mutual attraction. The kinetic energy of the system remains constant.
Reason (R): Total linear momentum of the system consisting both the objects remain constant even in the presence of external forces.
 
Both (A) & (R) are true and the (R) is the correct explanation of the (A)
Both (A) & (R) are true but the (R) is not the correct explanation of the (A)
(A) is true but (R) is false
Both (A) and (R) are false

Solution:

Assertion (A) is false; as objects move towards each other due to mutual attraction, their potential energy decreases, and kinetic energy increases, so it does not remain constant.

Reason (R) is false; total linear momentum of a system is conserved only in the absence of external forces, not 'even in the presence of external forces'. Therefore, both (A) and (R) are false.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *