Maximum Height for a Car to Roll Over a Hill on a Frictionless Track

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Homework Statement


A car on the frictionless track starts from rest at height h. The tracks valley and hill
consists of a circular-shaped segments of radius R.
What is the maximum height h from which the car can start so as not to fly off the track when going over the hill?
Give your answer as a multiple of R.

The Attempt at a Solution


ok I know that its potential energy is mgh when we let it go. And we need to put it at least
the height of R to make it the top of the hill on the other side.
But I am not sure how fast it can be going and not lift off the ground.
I know that it would have to exceed its weight. I am not sure how to relate the energy into force.
 
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Think about the path of the car over the top of the hill. It's a curve of radius R so what force do objects moving on a curved path experience?
 
ok thanks.
so now I have
[itex]\frac{mv^2}{r}=mg[/itex]
[itex]v=\sqrt{rg}[/itex]
then
[itex]mg(h-r)=m\frac{rg}{2}[/itex]
and this gets me the correct answer.
thanks for the help .