A roller coaster car starts stationary at the top of a downwards slope. At the bottom of the slope, it has a speed of 30m/s. Use the conservation of energy to find the vertical height of the slope. (Use g=10 m/s^2)

From the conservation of energy, we know that the change in gravitational potential energy (GPE) is equal to the change in kinetic energy (KE). GPE=mgh and KE=(1/2)mv^2. At the top of the slope, the car starts stationary so has KE=0 and at the bottom of the slope GPE=0. Therefore the GPE at the top equals the KE at the bottom. mgh=(1/2)mv^2. Divide both sides by the mass (m) to get gh=(1/2)v^2 and rearrange to find h, h=v^2/2g. Substitute in the numbers to find h=45m (don't forget units!)

Answered by Tamsin M. Physics tutor

2581 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Why does a balloon 'stick' to a wall when one has rubbed it on one's head?


What is an atom?


What is terminal velocity?


State one advantage and one disadvantage of using a CT scanner, compared with ultrasound scanning, for forming images of the inside of the human body. (2 Marks)


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences