A bock of mass 3kg starts from rest and slides down a surface , which corresponds to a quarter of a circle of 1.6m radius.

a) if the curved surface is smooth , calculate the speed of the of the block at the bottom.

1 answer

If the quarter circle has the radii horizontal and vertical, the difference in height equals the radius=1.6m.
Neglecting friction and other dissipative forces, then conservation of energy holds, and so
KE+PE=0,or
(1/2)mv^2 + mg(h-h0)=0
Solve for v
where h=0, h0=1.6m
and g=9.81 m/s²