Conservation of energy problem child slides down at angle? check my asnwers?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a child sliding down a playground slide, focusing on energy transfer and speed calculations. The context includes concepts from mechanics, specifically conservation of energy, friction, and potential energy changes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the energy transferred to thermal energy and the child's speed at the bottom of the slide. They express uncertainty about their calculations and seek clarification on their approach, particularly regarding potential energy.

Discussion Status

Some participants have pointed out the need to consider the change in potential energy in the calculations. The discussion is ongoing, with participants providing insights into the relationship between work done by friction, kinetic energy, and potential energy.

Contextual Notes

The original poster has acknowledged an error in their calculations for part (a) and is seeking further assistance for part (b). There is an emphasis on understanding the energy transformations involved in the scenario.

nchin
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A child whose weight is 267 N slides down a 6.10 m playground slide that makes an angle of 20.0° with the horizontal. The coefficient of kinetic friction between slide and child is 0.10.

(a) How much energy is transferred to thermal energy?

(b) If she starts at the top with a speed of 0.534 m/s, what is her speed at the bottom?

my attempt:

a)267sin30° - 0.1 x 267 cos 20° = 108.410 J

b) ƩW = 1/2m(v final)^(2) - 1/2m(v initial)^(2)

108.410 J = 1/2m(v final)^(2) - 2.845J

111.255 = 1/2m(v final)^(2)

...v final = 2.858 m/s

The answers are
a) 153 J
b) 5.45 m/s

im not sure what I am doing wrong. can someone please help?

thanks!

EDIT:

I figure out what i did wrong for part a.

the answer is just mu n
0.1x267cos(20)x6.1 = 153.047

I still don't understand part b!? help please!
 
Last edited:
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You didn't factor in the change in potential energy.
 
frogjg2003 said:
You didn't factor in the change in potential energy.

im not sure what you mean. do u mind showing me the steps?
 
The child slides down the slide. That means her height decreased by some amount. She's under the influence of gravity, so she lost some potential energy. The work by friction becomes W=ΔKE+ΔPE.
 

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