Conservation of mechanical energy (low difficulty)

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
3 replies · 2K views
Oscar Wilde
Messages
48
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



There is a rollercoaster. A car starts 35m "high" and descends to the ground. A.) What is the velocity at this point? The car continues an goes 28m above the ground. B.) calculate its velocity at this point. C.) If the car descends another 13m from this point, what is the velocity

Ignore Friction

Homework Equations



mgy=1/2mv^2

The Attempt at a Solution



using mgy= 1/2mv^2 i got the answer to a.), which is 26 m/s. But after this I became flustered and I do not know what to do to get its velocity if it goes 28m higher. I understand c. but I need the velocity at point B to get it!

Please help
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I'm sorry I just figured it out for B.

I set 1/2mv^2=1/2mv^2+mgy and found my second velocity, which comes out to 11.7 roughly when using g=9.8

I would appreciate if someone would confirm my findings

I then set up the (square root of(1/2mv^2 + mgy-mgy)/.5)=v and came out with 20 m/s for C.
 
Oscar Wilde said:

Homework Statement



There is a rollercoaster. A car starts 35m "high" and descends to the ground. A.) What is the velocity at this point? The car continues an goes 28m above the ground. B.) calculate its velocity at this point. C.) If the car descends another 13m from this point, what is the velocity

Ignore Friction

Homework Equations



mgy=1/2mv^2

The Attempt at a Solution



using mgy= 1/2mv^2 i got the answer to a.), which is 26 m/s. But after this I became flustered and I do not know what to do to get its velocity if it goes 28m higher. I understand c. but I need the velocity at point B to get it!

Please help

You're on the right track, think about conservation of energy
[tex]\Delta U = m g \Delta y[/tex]
[tex]\Delta K = \frac{1}{2} m(v_f ^2-v_i^2)[/tex]
Thus [tex]\Delta K + \Delta U = 0[/tex]
Thus [tex]-m g \Delta y +\frac{1}{2} m v_i^2= \frac{1}{2} m v_f^2[/tex]
 
I also got 11.7 for part B.