A cart starts at rest and moves freely down a ramp without friction or air resistance and descends 8 meters vertically, what is its speed at the bottom?

We apply energy conservation. At the start the cart has only gravitational potential energy given by mgh where m is its mass, g is the gravitational field, h = 8m is the height. At the end the cart has only kinetic energy mv^2/2 where v is its speed. By conservation of energy mgh = mv^2/2, so v^2=2gh= 29.88 m^2 s^-2=156.8 m^2 s^-2 so taking the square root, v = 12.5 m s^-1.

JT
Answered by Joshua T. Physics tutor

1611 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

3 resistors, R1, R2 and R3 are attached in parallel across a 6V cell with resistances 3, 4 and 5 Ohms respectively. Calculate the current across each resistor.


A small ball is projected with speed 15 m/s at an angle of 60 degrees above the horizontal. Find the distance from the point of projection of the ball at the instant when it is travelling horizontally.


Define Simple Harmonic Motion


What is the difference between a Scalar and a Vector?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning