Which statement about work and power correctly describes an automobile race?

The car do different amount of work depending on how fast they finish.

The car that finishes last has the lowest

Power

The car with the greatest power travels the greatest distance

The car do different amounts of work depending on their power.

Question

Physics

Emmy Henson

20 December, 08:32

Which statement about work and power correctly describes an automobile race?

The car do different amount of work depending on how fast they finish.

The car that finishes last has the lowest

Power

The car with the greatest power travels the greatest distance

The car do different amounts of work depending on their power.

+3

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Malachi Berger · Answer 1

Well this question looks like it makes some assumptions. So assuming that both cars have the same mass and experience the same wind resistance regardless of speed and same internal frictions, then we could say "The car that finishes last has the lowest power". The reason is that for a given race the cars must overcome losses associated with motion. Since they all travel the same distance, the amount of work will be the same for both. This is because work is force times distance. If the force applied is the same in both cases (identical cars with constant wind resistance) and the distance is the same for both (a fair race track) then W=F·d will be the same.

Power, however, is the work done divided by the time over which it is done. So for a slower car, time t will be larger. The power ratio W/t will be smaller for the longer time (slower car).