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The diagram shows the potential energy and kinetic energy of a roller coaster cart at a point located at the top of a large hill. If the cart is initially stationary it will have zero kinetic energy. Based on the height of the first hill the cart has 520 kiloJoules of potential energy.The point marked X represents the bottom of the hill where the cart's potential energy is equal to 0 Joules, but the kinetic energy is 480 kiloJoules.Based on the Law of Conservation of Energy which explanation provides support for what MOST LIKELY occurred?A 60 kiloJoules of kinetic energy were gained due to gravitational acceleration.B 40 KiloJoules of heat energy were released to the surroundings due to friction.C 420 KiloJoules of potential energy were transferred to heat energy.D 40 KiloJoules of chemical energy from fuel were released as heat energy.

Question

The diagram shows the potential energy and kinetic energy of a roller coaster cart at a point located at the top of a large hill. If the cart is initially stationary it will have zero kinetic energy. Based on the height of the first hill the cart has 520 kiloJoules of potential energy.The point marked X represents the bottom of the hill where the cart's potential energy is equal to 0 Joules, but the kinetic energy is 480 kiloJoules.Based on the Law of Conservation of Energy which explanation provides support for what MOST LIKELY occurred?A 60 kiloJoules of kinetic energy were gained due to gravitational acceleration.B 40 KiloJoules of heat energy were released to the surroundings due to friction.C 420 KiloJoules of potential energy were transferred to heat energy.D 40 KiloJoules of chemical energy from fuel were released as heat energy.

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Solution

The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed. In the case of the roller coaster, the cart starts with 520 kiloJoules of potential energy at the top of the hill. When it reaches point X at the bottom of the hill, it has 0 Joules of potential energy and 480 kiloJoules of kinetic energy.

This means that some of the initial potential energy has been transformed. The total energy at the top of the hill was 520 kiloJoules and at the bottom, it is 480 kiloJoules. The difference between these two amounts is 40 kiloJoules.

Given the options, the most likely explanation is that 40 KiloJoules of heat energy were released to the surroundings due to friction (Option B). This is because as the cart moves down the hill, friction between the cart and the track, as well as air resistance, would cause some of the energy to be transformed into heat.

The other options are less likely. Option A suggests that kinetic energy was gained, but this would violate the Law of Conservation of Energy as the total energy would then be more than the initial 520 kiloJoules. Option C suggests a much larger amount of energy was transformed into heat, which doesn't account for the 480 kiloJoules of kinetic energy observed. Option D is unlikely as roller coasters do not typically use fuel.

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