Question
A car that is moving fast at the bottom of an uphill ramp moves up the ramp, slows down, stops just for an instant, and then begins to roll back down the ramp.
At which point does the car have the most potential energy and why?
A. The potential energy remains the same throughout. This is because energy is always conserved.
B. At the point where the car is moving the fastest at the bottom of the ramp. This is because the faster an object is moving, the larger its potential energy.
C. At a point directly in the middle between the bottom and when the car stops. This is because this is the perfect balance point between kinetic energy and potential energy.
D. At the point when the car is stopped. This is because its kinetic energy is zero at this point, which means all of its energy is in the form of potential energy.
At which point does the car have the most potential energy and why?
A. The potential energy remains the same throughout. This is because energy is always conserved.
B. At the point where the car is moving the fastest at the bottom of the ramp. This is because the faster an object is moving, the larger its potential energy.
C. At a point directly in the middle between the bottom and when the car stops. This is because this is the perfect balance point between kinetic energy and potential energy.
D. At the point when the car is stopped. This is because its kinetic energy is zero at this point, which means all of its energy is in the form of potential energy.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is: **D. At the point when the car is stopped. This is because its kinetic energy is zero at this point, which means all of its energy is in the form of potential energy.**
Here's the reasoning:
- As the car climbs the ramp, it converts its kinetic energy (due to its speed) into potential energy (due to its height).
- At the very top of the ramp (when the car stops momentarily), all of the kinetic energy has been converted into potential energy. Thus, at this point, the potential energy is at its maximum.
- The potential energy increases as the height increases, so the car, when stopped at the highest point on the ramp, has the greatest potential energy.
- Once the car begins to roll back down, its potential energy decreases as it loses height and kinetic energy increases.
So, the best explanation is that the car has the most potential energy at the point where it is stopped at the top of the ramp, as all its kinetic energy has been converted to potential energy.
Here's the reasoning:
- As the car climbs the ramp, it converts its kinetic energy (due to its speed) into potential energy (due to its height).
- At the very top of the ramp (when the car stops momentarily), all of the kinetic energy has been converted into potential energy. Thus, at this point, the potential energy is at its maximum.
- The potential energy increases as the height increases, so the car, when stopped at the highest point on the ramp, has the greatest potential energy.
- Once the car begins to roll back down, its potential energy decreases as it loses height and kinetic energy increases.
So, the best explanation is that the car has the most potential energy at the point where it is stopped at the top of the ramp, as all its kinetic energy has been converted to potential energy.