Question

a baseball pitching machine uses mechanical energy to turn its gears. the mechanical energy of the gears is converted to kinetic energy when the gears pitch a baseball into the air. the amount of mechanical energy in the gears is greater than the kinetic energy of the flying baseball.
what happened to the mechanical energy that was not converted to kinetic energy?

• some energy was released as heat.
• some energy was destroyed during the energy conversion.
• some energy was converted back to mechanical energy
• some energy from the ball was transferred into the ground.

Explanation:

The law of conservation of energy states energy cannot be destroyed, only converted. In mechanical systems like a pitching machine, unused mechanical energy is often lost as heat due to friction between gears or moving parts.

Answer:

A. Some energy was released as heat.