A truck pushes a pile of dirt horizontally on a frictionless road with a net force of 20

N
20N20, start text, N, end text for
15.0

m
15.0m15, point, 0, start text, m, end text.
How much kinetic energy does the dirt gain?

300 Joules

Explanation:

This is a common question on Khan Academy's "Calculating change in kinetic energy from a force" practice exercises. (AP Physics 1)

The simplest method to use is the following: , where W represents work (joules), F represents force (newtons), d represents distance (meters), and theta represents the angle of the force that's being applied.In this scenario, the force being applied is horizontal, so we can remove the from our equation.So, our equation is now: . This would mean that , which is equal to . Our answer is 300 joules. (this value is positive and not negative because kinetic energy is being GAINED, not LOST)

Here's the real question without all the formatting:

A truck pushes a pile of dirt horizontally on a frictionless road with a net force of 20 N for 15.0 m. How much kinetic energy does the dirt gain?