a little spider monkey (let's call her flo) has stolen a bunch of bananas from her older brother charley and is now running away from him with the bananas in hand. she sees salvation in a long vine and grabs the bottom, hoping to swing away.

Question

a) is flo, who has a mass of 5.3 kg, and the bananas, with a mass of 0.5 kg, reaches a height of 1.2 m before slowing down to a stop and swinging back down, how fast was she running when she grabbed the vine?

b) as she swings back down, charley (whose mass is 5.9 kg) is standing just at the bottom of the swing. he grabs her and they swing up together. what height will the two monkeys and the coveted bananas reach?

c) as a result of their fighting, they happen to drop the bananas just as the vine pendulum reaches this new height. how fast will the two monkeys be moving when they let go of the vine at the bottom again?

I got 4.8 m/s for the first answer. and 0.59 m for the second answer. Can someone please confirm these answers for me and also help me with the last question?

THANK YOU!

Answer 1

a) use conservation of energy.
b) use conservation of momentum as the source for initial combined velocity, then conservation of energy to transform that KE to height.
c. use conservation of momentum.

Answer 2

for b) does that mean that even when he grabs onto the vine with her, their velocity is 4.8 m/s?

I am in grade 11 and have not learned momentum.