Simple energy/kinematics problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter maxbashi
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The problem involves calculating the horizontal distance a person lands after sliding down a 4.0 m water slide that ends 1.5 m above the pool surface. The correct approach uses conservation of mechanical energy and kinematics to find the initial velocity at the bottom of the slide. The book states the landing distance is 4.9 m, while the poster initially calculated 3.9 m. Clarification was needed on whether the 4.0 m measurement referred to the height from the slide to the pool or the bottom of the slide. The poster ultimately resolved their confusion independently.
maxbashi
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
I'm not seeing my mistake, but I'm not getting the answer in the back of the book.

Homework Statement


A water slide has a height of 4.0 m. The people coming down the slide shoot out horizontally at the bottom, which is a distance of 1.5 m above the surface of the water in the pool. If a person starts down the slide from rest, neglecting frictional losses, how far from a point directly below the bottom of the slide does the person land?

Homework Equations


Just conservation of mechanical energy, and kinematics.

The Attempt at a Solution


The book gives 4.9 m, but here is my work where I get 3.9 m. I almost hate to ask what I'm doing wrong...
 

Attachments

  • photo.jpg
    photo.jpg
    24.1 KB · Views: 788
Physics news on Phys.org
Recheck your calculation for the initial velocity. What's the change in height from the top of the slide to the bottom of the slide?
 
Oh - would the 4.0 m be the distance from the top of the water slide to the pool, or the distance from the top of the water slide to the bottom?

(Ok just answered my own question - thanks)
 
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
Thread 'Variable mass system : water sprayed into a moving container'
Starting with the mass considerations #m(t)# is mass of water #M_{c}# mass of container and #M(t)# mass of total system $$M(t) = M_{C} + m(t)$$ $$\Rightarrow \frac{dM(t)}{dt} = \frac{dm(t)}{dt}$$ $$P_i = Mv + u \, dm$$ $$P_f = (M + dm)(v + dv)$$ $$\Delta P = M \, dv + (v - u) \, dm$$ $$F = \frac{dP}{dt} = M \frac{dv}{dt} + (v - u) \frac{dm}{dt}$$ $$F = u \frac{dm}{dt} = \rho A u^2$$ from conservation of momentum , the cannon recoils with the same force which it applies. $$\quad \frac{dm}{dt}...
Back
Top