2007-05-27 15:26:57 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Are you talking about the average speed between the two points? If so, you take the distance of the stretch of track and multiply it by the amount of time it takes to get there. For example, if you had a 20 meter stretch of track, and it took the roller coaster car 5 seconds to run the length, it would be 20:5, or 4:1, so it's 4 meters per second ("per" means to multiply. This is useful when taking the average speed and applying it to a different distance of track or a different amount of time).
2007-05-27 15:31:54 · answer #1 · answered by Tha Nurd 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your question is really ambiguous, but I'll try a different approach from the others.
Assuming you're in physics, use energy. You'll need to know some information about the two points... namely the speed of the cart at each point and the height difference between the two points. Of course I'm going to ignore fritction.
We know that energy is conserved. So the total energy at the initial point must equal the total energy at the final point.
Ei = Ef
The only energies involved are Kinetic and Potential, so...
(KE + PE)i = (KE + PE)f
KE = ½m v²
PE = mgh
Since PE has a zero level that is artbitrarily chosen, we can pick PEi = 0, so..
KEi = KEf + PEf
½m vi² = ½m vf² + m g h
The m's cancel, and solving for vf
vf = sqrt(vi² - 2gh)
Be sure to include the correct sign on h... if the coaster is going downhill, h is negative. If the coaster is going uphill, h is positive.
There you go! Hope this helps. If it's confusing, e-mail me or IM me.
2007-05-27 19:49:06 · answer #2 · answered by Boozer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Easy. measure the distance along the track between the points. Then measure the time to go from one point to the other. The speed equals the distance divided by the time.
The hard part is measuring the distance along a curve. To calculate it, you need calculus. But if the curve is part of a circle, you just need to know that the whole circle has a circumferance of pi D. If the curve is not part of a circle... it's more complicated.
2007-05-27 16:24:59 · answer #3 · answered by squeezie_1999 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just ignore all the people trying to show off their knowledge of the uncertainty principle.
It's a calculus problem. It would be almost impossible to come up with one equation for the whole coaster. You pretty much have to come up with a function for each hill, starting with the residual speed left over from the last hill and take the derivative to get the speed at one point on the curve.
2007-05-28 03:17:18 · answer #4 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
from the formula you provided, v²=?2gh (g=9.8m/s²), in basic terms plug in h2 and h3. notwithstanding the formula for speed is v=gt at the same time as initial speed is 0, so there should be a time provided.
2016-11-28 02:38:38 · answer #5 · answered by bennison 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Measure the distance between the 2 points and divide it by the amount of time it takes to travel that distance.
2007-05-27 15:33:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋