What is the ratio of the distances traveled by these two players?

Thread starter posto002
Start date Sep 26, 2019
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Ratio

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on calculating the ratio of distances traveled by two players, Pierre and Jean-Claude, based on their masses and the principles of physics. Pierre has a mass that is 70% less than Jean-Claude, leading to the conclusion that Jean-Claude, being heavier, travels a shorter distance. The participants utilize the conservation of momentum and kinetic energy equations to derive the relationship between their velocities and distances traveled, ultimately determining that the ratio of distances can be inferred from their kinetic energies without needing to know the exact distances.

PREREQUISITES

Understanding of Newton's Second Law (F=ma)
Knowledge of conservation of momentum principles
Familiarity with kinetic energy equations (KE = 0.5mv²)
Basic algebra for manipulating equations

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Study the conservation of momentum in two-body systems
Learn how to derive kinetic energy equations from mass and velocity
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Sep 27, 2019

jbriggs444

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PeroK said:

I thought the question was to find the ratio of distances travelled? That seems not very easy to me. Unless I'm missing something, all the calculations so far are just the preliminaries!

Yes. My aim was at a preliminary result which would be the ratio of the kinetic energies. Then one could try to figure out whether the kinetic energy loss was a rate over distance or a rate over time.

A rate over distance would make the rest of the problem easy using work and energy. A rate over time would either call for the evaluation of an integral or a clever way of comparing the two situations.