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What is the relationship between the kinetic energy of an object and its velocity and mass?
An engineer is designing a small toy car that a spring will launch from rest along a racetrack.
She wants to maximize the kinetic energy of the toy car when it launches from the end of a
compressed spring onto the track, but she can make only a slight adjustment to the initial
conditions of the car. The speed of the car just as it moves away from the spring onto the
track is called the launch speed. Which of the following modifications to the car design would
have the greatest effect on increasing the kinetic energy of the car?

A. decrease the mass of the car slightly
B. increase the mass of the car slightly
C. decrease the launch speed of the car slightly
D. increase the launch speed of the car slightly