Calculating Mass of a Car with KE of 1*10^6 J

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The discussion revolves around calculating the mass of a car given its kinetic energy of 1*10^6 J and a speed of 25 km/h. Participants clarify the conversion of speed from km/h to m/s, which is essential for the calculation. The kinetic energy formula, KE = 1/2 mv^2, is applied to derive the mass, leading to a calculated mass of approximately 41,472 kg, which raises concerns about its realism. The importance of unit conversion is emphasized, as incorrect conversions can lead to nonsensical results. Ultimately, the conversation highlights the significance of proper calculations and unit management in physics problems.
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O.K . What is 1*10(6power)J mean. Do I further need to break this down in order to work the problem.
Problem: A car travleling 25 km/hour has Kinetic energy of 1*10(6power)J.
What is the mass of the car?
I've converted k/h to m/s
 
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Lovely said:
O.K . What is 1*10(6power)J mean. Do I further need to break this down in order to work the problem.
Problem: A car travleling 25 km/hour has Kinetic energy of 1*10(6power)J.
What is the mass of the car?
I've converted k/h to m/s

Do you know what mass is in terms of velocity and energy?

Doug
 
Mathechyst said:
Do you know what mass is in terms of velocity and energy?

Doug
If I'm looking for mass am I suppose to know?
 
Lovely said:
If I'm looking for mass am I suppose to know?
No I do not know what mass is in terms of velocity and energy
 
KE=\frac{1}{2}mv^2. So, if KE = 10^6, and v=25km/h or ~6.9m/s...
10000000/.5(6.9)^2=416666kg? Thats almost 300X the average mass of a car[/color]

Edited: Oops on Calculations, Thanks Mathechyst
 
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DirtyDan said:
KE=\frac{1}{2}mv^2. So, if KE = 10^6, and v=25...
10000000/(312.5)=3200kg[/color]

It doesn't look like you accounted for the fact that the velocity is given in km/hr.
 
Yeah, I've been editing it lol.. But now look, I checked it a couple of times. Is it meant to come out with non-sensical numbers?
 
DirtyDan said:
Yeah, I've been editing it lol.. But now look, I checked it a couple of times. Is it meant to come out with non-sensical numbers?

Since we're giving out the answer, we should show how it is solved:
<br /> m=\frac{2K}{v^2}=\frac{2\cdot1\cdot10^6 kg\cdot{m^2}}{s^2}\cdot\frac{hr^2}{25^2 km^2}\cdot\frac{3600^2 s^2}{hr^2}\cdot\frac{km^2}{1000^2 m^2}=\frac{2\cdot3600^2}{25^2}kg=41472kg<br />
Hmm. A 45.6 ton car. Still, it looks right to me. Let's do a back of the envelope calculation to see what we come up with. Suppose we have a 1000 kg (2200 lb) car going 25 km/hr.

<br /> \frac{mv^2}{2}=\frac{1000kg}{1}\cdot\frac{25^2 km^2}{hr^2}\cdot\frac{1000^2 m^2}{km^2}\cdot\frac{hr^2}{3600^2 s^2}=\frac{1000\cdot25^2\cdot1000^2 kg\cdot{m^2}}{s^2}=48225.3J<br />

Yes, I would say a million joules at 25km/hr is a bit much.

Doug
 
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Mathechyst said:
Since we're giving out the answer, we should show how it is solved:
<br /> m=\frac{2K}{v^2}=\frac{2\cdot1\cdot10^6 kg\cdot{m^2}}{s^2}\cdot\frac{hr^2}{25^2 km^2}\cdot\frac{3600^2 s^2}{hr^2}\cdot\frac{km^2}{1000^2 m^2}=\frac{2\cdot3600^2}{25^2}kg=41472kg<br />
Hmm. A 9\frac{1}{2} ton car. Still, it looks right to me.

Doug
O.K Mathechyst I got completed lost. I didn't see were you converted k/m into m/s. I'm sorry but i guess I'm missing the whole concept
 
  • #10
Lovely said:
O.K Mathechyst I got completed lost. I didn't see were you converted k/m into m/s. I'm sorry but i guess I'm missing the whole concept

I find it easier to include the units conversion along with the rest of the solution. It's just a matter of multiplying by 1. For example, to convert km/hr to km/s you multiply the km/hr by the number of hours in a second, namely 1/3600.

<br /> \frac{25 km}{hr}\cdot\frac{hr}{3600 s}=\frac{25 km}{3600 s}=\frac{1 km}{144 s}<br />

Notice how the hr units cancel? That's what you want to do. Cancel out the units you don't want and replace them with the units you do want. Now to convert km/s to m/s you just multiply km/s by the number of meters in a kilometer, so:

<br /> \frac{1 km}{144 s}\cdot\frac{1000 m}{km}=\frac{1000 m}{144 s}=6.94\frac{m}{s}<br />

See how the km[/tex] units cancelled?<br /> <br /> Doug
 
  • #11
Mathechyst said:
I find it easier to include the units conversion along with the rest of the solution. It's just a matter of multiplying by 1. For example, to convert km/hr to km/s you multiply the km/hr by the number of hours in a second, namely 1/3600.

<br /> \frac{25 km}{hr}\cdot\frac{hr}{3600 s}=\frac{25 km}{3600 s}=\frac{1 km}{144 s}<br />

Notice how the hr units cancel? That's what you want to do. Cancel out the units you don't want and replace them with the units you do want. Now to convert km/s to m/s you just multiply km/s by the number of meters in a kilometer, so:

<br /> \frac{1 km}{144 s}\cdot\frac{1000 m}{km}=\frac{1000 m}{144 s}=6.94\frac{m}{s}<br />

See how the km[/tex] units cancelled?<br /> <br /> Doug
Thanks for the help. I have completed the activity. I appreciate you.<br /> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":smile:" title="Smile :smile:" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":smile:" />
 
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