Okay the problem says:
A roller coaster cart originally at rest is moved from point A to point B on a chain by a force F, against gravity. It stops temporarily at B. Is the force F conservative or non-conservative? What forms of energy does the cart have at A and B?
I'm confused because I know gravity's a conservative force, but what about friction with the chain? Anyway if anyone can help me out that'd be great, thanks
2007-12-19 08:47:04 · 2 answers · asked by rst41 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
You can ignore frictional loss moving the chain since the cart is at rest w/r/t the chain.
Conservative
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2007-12-19 08:51:53 · answer #1 · answered by odu83 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a conservative force and the hint is that you do not know the path that the cart takes, which gives it away.
At point B cart has potential energy and at point A it has no energy. I know that energy cannot be created nor destroyed so the kinetic energy/mechanical energy of the chain have been converted to potential energy of the cart.
2007-12-19 16:55:13 · answer #2 · answered by Tetley 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋