Kinetic Energy and Momentum: Practice Problem & Solution
The K.E. of a person is just half of K.E. of a boy whose mass is just half of that person. If person increases its speed by \(1\text{ m/s}\), then its K.E. equals to that of boy then initial speed of person was: (1999)
Short Solution (Best for NEET):
To solve this problem, we apply the core principles of Kinetic Energy and Momentum. Understanding the underlying formula is key to arriving at the correct answer below:
Let person's mass be \(M_p\) and speed \(v_p\). Boy's mass \(M_b = M_p/2\) and speed \(v_b\). Given \(KE_p = \frac{1}{2}KE_b\) and \(KE_p' = KE_b\) when \(v_p' = v_p+1\). From \(KE_p = \frac{1}{2}KE_b\), \(\frac{1}{2}M_p v_p^2 = \frac{1}{2} (\frac{1}{2} \frac{M_p}{2} v_b^2)\Rightarrow 4v_p^2 = v_b^2 \Rightarrow v_b = 2v_p\). From \(KE_p' = KE_b\), \(\frac{1}{2}M_p (v_p+1)^2 = \frac{1}{2}M_b v_b^2 = \frac{1}{2}(\frac{M_p}{2})(2v_p)^2 = \frac{1}{2}M_p (2v_p^2)\). So \((v_p+1)^2 = 2v_p^2 \Rightarrow v_p+1 = \sqrt{2}v_p\). \(1 = v_p(\sqrt{2}-1) \Rightarrow v_p = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}-1} = \sqrt{2}+1\text{ m/s}\).
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