Question

A ball is dropped from the top of a cliff. Which graph best represents the relationship between the ball's total energy and the elapsed time as the ball falls to the ground?

Answer 1

Graph A does.

The work you do to carry the ball up to the top of the cliff is the total energy it has.

Before you drop it, all that energy is potential energy.  

Once you drop it, the potential energy starts to turn into kinetic energy as it falls.  

When it hits the ground, its kinetic energy is exactly the amount of potential energy it had at the top, and it has no more potential energy.

The total (potential + kinetic) energy is the same amount all the way down. Energy isn't created or destroyed.

Answer 2

The graph that shows the ball's total energy and the elapsed time as the ball falls to the ground is graph A.

For a body that is falling from a height, the potential energy of the body is being converted to kinetic energy. We must note that the total mechanical energy of the body is constant.

As such, the graph that shows the ball's total energy and the elapsed time as the ball falls to the ground is graph A.

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