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Question

Why is Kinetic Energy a Scalar Quantity?


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Solution

Vector: A quantity that requires both magnitude and direction to be completely defined is called a vector.

Kinetic Energy: It is defined as the energy possessed by a body when it is in motion, i.e velocity is not 0. When velocity is 0, Kinetic Energy is essentially 0.

Kinetic Energy is given by :

<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mi>K</mi><mo>&#xA0;</mo><mo>=</mo><mfrac><mrow><mo>&#xA0;</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow><mn>2</mn></mfrac><mi>m</mi><msup><mi>v</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></math>

where m = mass, v = velocity.

Mass is a scalar quantity and the velocity which is a vector is squared which makes it a scalar quantity as well. Therefore, Kinetic Energy is a scalar.


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