- #1
B3NR4Y
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Homework Statement
Two objects of inertias m1 and m2 start from rest and then interact with each other (assume neither is interacting with any other object).
What is the ratio of their kinetic energies at any instant?
Homework Equations
[itex] \frac{K_{1}}{K_{2}} = ? [/itex]
The first part of the equation asked me to relate velocities to masses and I got a correct answer of
[itex]\frac{v_{2x}}{v_{1x}} = -\frac{m_{1}}{m_{2}} [/itex]
The Attempt at a Solution
I know that Kinetic Energy is half of the mass times the square of the velocity, and that's where my attempt falls apart, because I have to express the answer in terms of m1 and m2, but they're already in KE so I don't understand how that works out. My answer I got was
[itex]\frac{K_{1}}{K_{2}} = \frac{m_{2}}{m_{1}} [/itex]
Without the negative cause it is the square of the velocity and that will eliminate any negatives. Please help.