Calculating Work Done by Gravity on a Ski Slope

[rottentreats64]

3. On a ski weekend in Colorado, Bob, whose mass is 75kg, skis down a hill that is inclined at an angle of 15º to the horizontal and has a vertical rise of 25.0m. How much work is done by gravity on Bob as he goes down the hill

for this problem i thought you had to use sohcahtoa to find out what the hypotnuse is but then i thought all you had to do is 10*the distance 25 but I am not sure which is right?

 

[radou]

3. On a ski weekend in Colorado, Bob, whose mass is 75kg, skis down a hill that is inclined at an angle of 15º to the horizontal and has a vertical rise of 25.0m. How much work is done by gravity on Bob as he goes down the hill

for this problem i thought you had to use sohcahtoa to find out what the hypotnuse is but then i thought all you had to do is 10*the distance 25 but I am not sure which is right?

It is enough to multiply the force of gravity, mg, with the height of the hill. You'd get the same result if you multiplied the component of the force of gravity along the incline with the length of the incline (i.e. the hypothenuse).

 

[rottentreats64]

k thank you