A 2.4*10^5-kg airplane is cruising at 900 km/h.What is its kinetic energy relative

Perform an Energy Balance:

dU+dEp+dEk=Q+W
dU,dEp,Q, and W are negligible

thus dEk = 0.

The definition of Ek= 1/2mv^2
thus Ek(2)=Ek(1) which means you just solve fo Ek(1) to get you the kinetic energy.

Ek(1)=1/2(2.4E5 kg)((900 km/h)*(1000(m/km)/3600(s/h)))^2 = 7,500,000,000 J

As you can see I did the calculation converting the amount of km to meters then the hours to seconds since the definition of joules is kg/m^2*s^2 not kg/km^2*h^2
 
Back
Top