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tigerseye
Dec15-04, 01:11 AM
A 1500 kg car is approaching a hill shown in the diagram at 10.0 m/s when it suddenly runs out of gas. Assuming the car makes it to the top by coasting, what is the car's speed after coasting down the other side?

I tried using 1/2*m*(v_1)^2+mgh_1= 1/2*m*(v_2)^2+mgh_2 but didn't get the right answer.

cyby
Dec15-04, 01:17 AM
Well, this looks like a straight conservation of energy problem, with a little kinematics, maybe. The speed is affected by how fast the car is moving on top.. figure out how much energy the car has on top of the hill.... then try conservation of energy again.