A roller coaster starts at a height of 50 m where it has an initial velocity of 10 m/s after an external force pushes it for 5 seconds.

It is then moved along the frictionless track to 0m then a loop that is 20 m followed by another 20 m loop and ends at a height of
10 m high due to the friction at the end of the track. The friction coefficient of the track is 0.6, and the part of the track with
friction is 75 m long.
Diagram: mass: 10 kg
start Initial Speed: 10 m/s
Friction Coefficient: .6
Power: 100 watts

end

track with friction 75m long

Bar Graphs -
Point 1 Point 2
5,500 J

5,000 J

500 J
0J 0J 0J

KE PE TE KE PE TE

Point 3 Point 4

4,500 J

3,500 J

2,000 J

1,000 J

0J 0J

KE PE TE KE PE TE
Conservation of Energy

Point 3 (finding speed) - Finding the height 1/2 KE & 1/2 PE -

At a height of 27.5 meters, the cart will have half its total
The speed of the cart at mechanical energy as KE and the other half as PE.
point 3 is 26.46 m/s (KE & GPE = 2,750J)

Friction - After passing through the portion of the track with friction, the cart will have a velocity of 0 m/s

In this example, friction converts part of the total mechanical energy into thermal energy; it
does not destroy the energy. However, there is still GPE because it is above the ground level.

External Force -
At the very beginning of the roller coaster, an external force pushes the cart for 5 seconds into an initial velocity of 10 m/s.