Correct option is (D)
The momentum
of a particle is given by the product of its mass
and its velocity
, that is,
. For a given momentum, the relationship between mass
and velocity can be understood as inversely proportional. This means that as the mass increases,
the velocity decreases to maintain the same momentum, and vice versa.
The kinetic energy
() of a particle is given by the formula
. This equation shows that the kinetic energy depends
on both the mass of the particle and the square of its velocity.
Given that four particles
have masses
, respectively, and all have the same momentum, we
can assume the momentum of each particle to be
. This common value of momentum allows us to express
the velocity of each particle in terms of its mass and the common momentum
. The velocity
of each particle will be
.
Thus, for each particle, we can determine the velocity as follows:
- For
:
- For
:
- For
:
- For
:
Now, substituting these velocities into the kinetic energy formula yields the kinetic energies
for each particle:
-
Comparing these kinetic energies, we see that the particle
has the maximum kinetic energy, as it is inversely
related to mass in this scenario, and
has the least mass but the highest velocity squared
component, thus maximizing its kinetic energy. Therefore, the correct answer is:
Option D: A