What is the Height of the Cart When It Stops Rolling Up an Inclined Board?

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a cart that rolls across a table and then up an inclined board, ultimately coming to rest. The context includes concepts of energy conservation, specifically relating spring potential energy to gravitational potential energy.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the conservation of energy as a potential approach, with some suggesting the conversion of spring energy to gravitational potential energy. Questions arise regarding the necessary formulas and the initial conditions of the system.

Discussion Status

There is an ongoing exploration of the relationship between kinetic energy, potential energy, and spring energy. Some participants express uncertainty about the details and assumptions of the problem, while others provide guidance on relevant equations.

Contextual Notes

Participants note a lack of sufficient information for calculations and question the assumptions regarding the initial state of the spring-cart system.

Walid11
Messages
5
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


125N of force are required to compress a spring by 1.04m. The cart rolls across the table at a constant speed. It then rolls up an inclined board and comes to rest. How high above the table is the cart when it stops?


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution

 
Physics news on Phys.org


Walid11 said:

The Attempt at a Solution


??



Conservation of energy might aid you here.
 
There's not enough information to make any calculations. But from what I can tell from the problem, it's just the conservation of spring energy to potential energy.
 
well it moves at 9.3 m/s horizontally
 
Walid11 said:
well it moves at 9.3 m/s horizontally

Then it's conservation of Kinetic Energy to Potential ...
 
what's the formula for that?
 
Well, kinetic energy is (1/2)mv^2 and potential energy is (1/2)kx^2. Have you seen these equations before?
 
Walid11 said:
what's the formula for that?

Uhm I assume the spring-cart system is initially at rest. So then you want all the potential energy of the spring to be converted into gravitational pe (mgh). You need to get h.
 
yeah, i just couldn't differentiate. Thank you
 
  • #10
Oops, I didn't read the question and assumed the potential energy bucher was talking about was spring potential energy. Apologies!
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
4K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
6K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
12
Views
5K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
6K
Replies
1
Views
6K