Students will investigate the relationship between potential, kinetic, and mechanical energy and demonstrate the law of conservation of energy in an ideal system modeled by a roller coaster.
Real world applications
How are potential energy and kinetic energy related? What does it mean when it is said that energy is conserved? Engineers in amusement parks use the concept of conservation of energy when designing thrill rides such as roller coasters.
Select the starting height of the roller coaster from the list, then click Ready. To watch the animation more slowly, select slow from the Play Speed menu. Click Play to start the animation. Click Pause to pause the animation. Click Reset to start over.
