High School

An unconventional artist creates paintings by sloshing buckets of paint onto large canvases. Suppose the canvas and easel, on which it is placed, have a combined mass of 4.5 kg and are initially at rest when the artist throws 1.3 kg of paint onto the canvas. The canvas, easel, and paint together slide back on the smooth floor with a speed of 0.83 m/s.

What is the change in kinetic energy after the inelastic collision?

Answer :

Final answer:

The change in kinetic energy of the canvas, easel, and paint system after the inelastic collision where the paint is thrown is 2.0 joules.

Explanation:

The student has asked to find the change in kinetic energy after an inelastic collision where paint is thrown onto a canvas that is initially at rest. The combined mass of the canvas, easel, and paint is 5.8 kg (4.5 kg + 1.3 kg) post-collision, and they move at 0.83 m/s.

To calculate this, we can use the formula for kinetic energy, KE = 0.5 * m * v2. There is no initial kinetic energy since the system was at rest before the collision, so the change in kinetic energy is equal to the final kinetic energy of the system. The final kinetic energy of the system can be calculated by plugging in the values into the formula: KE = 0.5 * 5.8 kg * (0.83 m/s)2.

After performing the calculation, we find that the change in kinetic energy of the system is 2.0 joules.