If the car has a mass of 0.4 kg, the ratio of height to width of the ramp is 13/125, the initial displacement is 1.9 m, and the change in momentum is 0.87 kg*m/s, how far will it coast back up the ramp before changing directions?

Question

tinypic(dot)com(slant)r(slant)10dunx3/7

I get .3797m, but apparently this is not the right answer :( Could you please show the steps? I am have a quiz on this material coming up and would like an explanation on how to do this problem.

Thank you very much!

drwls · Answer

Why should it coast back up the ramp at all? All that I see at the bottom of the ramp is a "force transducer".

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=10dunx3&s=7

Is y/x = 13/125 ?
I would not call the 125 a width.

How is the initial displacement defined?

George · Answer

I know this seems like a silly question but our professor said we should be getting a very small value that will not even make a substantial difference. It is a poorly thought out problem. Yes y/x = 13/125. That's all I can really help with. Sorry :( Thank you for your help anyways though!