Calculating Speed of Cart at Positions 1, 2, and 3

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jtappan
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Cart Speed
AI Thread Summary
To calculate the speed of a cart at positions 1, 2, and 3, the total mechanical energy must be conserved, as friction is neglected. The total energy at each position is the sum of kinetic and potential energy, expressed as E_tot = E_kin + E_pot. The kinetic energy is given by E_kin = 1/2 * m * v^2, while potential energy is calculated using E_pot = m * g * h. The mass of the cart is not needed for the calculations, as it cancels out when comparing energies at different positions. The key to solving the problem lies in applying the conservation of energy principle effectively.
Jtappan
Messages
95
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


A cart starts from position 4 in the figure below with a velocity of 13 m/s to the left. Find the speed with which the cart reaches positions 1, 2, and 3. Neglect friction.
fig-030.gif


speed at position 1 ___ m/s
speed at position 2 ___ m/s
speed at position 3 ___ m/s

Homework Equations



E_tot1 = E_tot2 = E_tot3 = E_tot4

The total energy is kinetic energy plus potential energy
E_tot = E_kin + E_pot

E_pot = m * g * h
with m the mass of the cart, g the gravitational constant of Earth (g=9.81m/s^2) and h the height.

E_kin = 1/2 * m * v^2


The Attempt at a Solution



I attempted to do this problem and I cannot figure out how to solve for any of them if I am not given the mass of the cart.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You shouldn't need the mass, since it will be common to each term and you will be able to cancel it out.
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top