As an object falls toward the ground what happens to the kinetic energy of the object?

Answer 1

It gains kinetic energy because it is accelerating. Once it hits the ground, all of it's kinetic energy is converted different types of energy. Example: drop a rock from your head. When it hits the ground it create friction and there fore heat, heat is energy. It also makes a sound when it hits the ground, sound is energy. If you were to take the heat and the sound energy a d add them together, you would get the equal amount of potential energy the rock had when it was at your head ready to drop. Therefore, in this case, the kinetic energy was coverted to heat energy and sound energy.

Answer 2

As an object falls from a higher level to a lower level, the gravitational potential

energy that it had at the higher level changes to kinetic energy.

As more and more potential energy changes to more and more kinetic energy,

the increase of kinetic energy shows up in the form of greater speed.

Answer 3

As per the law of conservation of energy as the body approaches the ground its potential energy decreases and so that decrease would be available in the form of increased kinetic energy. So the speed of the body goes on increasing as it falls towards the ground.

Answer 4

Someone wrote "remains the same", but I disagree with that response.

The potential energy in this case, given no other information, would be the potential energy associated with gravity : U g .

Ug = mgh , where m = mass of the object (useful to convert to kg) ,

g = acceleration due to gravity = -9.8m/s2 , and

h = the height of the object (useful to convert to meters) .

As the object falls, there is a change in the height factor, which will decrease the

the Ug .

This change in gravitational potential energy, or Delta Ug , or Ug final - Ug initial

, will be proportional to the distance the object falls.

So, at ground level, the potential energy will be zero.

As you know however, energy cannot be created nor destroyed and it has to be transferred to other forms of energy. During the fall, mostly kinetic energy, K, given by: 1/2 m V2 , where m = mass, and V = velocity, (proportional also to the change in height), and then when the object reaches zero height, there is a large transfer to other energy forms, non-conservative to the local system, i.g., light, heat, and sound resulting from the work of forces upon the object.

Before the object reaches ground level, there is a relationship between

Delta Ug and Delta K (kinetic energy):

Delta K = - Delta Ug

This equation shows that during the fall, the Kinetic energy will be

the absolute value of the Potential energy due to Gravity.

Answer 5

when an object reaches the ground it has it's maximum value of kinetic energy just before touching the ground.

As kinetic energy+potential energy= Constant.

So,on reaching ground the potential energy of an object becomes zero(0). that's why kinetic energy on reaching ground becomes maximum.

Answer 6

When an object is falling towards the ground freely, it's kinetic energy will go on increasing with time and will be maximum just before hitting the ground.

Answer 7

increases

Answer 8

nothing