Question

A m= 5.0 kg block slides on a flat, smooth track with an initial speed of vi= 6 m/s. The block slides down a rough incline that has a vertical height of h = 4 m onto another flat, smooth track. The block’s final speed is vf= 10 m/s. How much energy is lost to friction on the block as it slid down the incline?

An m 5.0 kg block slides on a flat, smooth track with an initial speed of v 6 m/s. The block slides down a rough incline that has a vertical height of h 4 m onto another flat, smooth track. The block's final speed is v 10 m/s. How much energy is lost to friction on the block as it slid down the incline? L

Answer 1

By the principle of conservation of energy, total energy of the block at the top of the incline must be equal to total energy of the block at the bottom of the incline.

At the top of the incline,

g is the acceleration due to gravity and v denotes the velocity.

Putting the values,

At the bottom of the incline potential energy is zero, and it has only Kinetic energy.

However, we see that the energy at the top and bottom are not equal i.e., the remaining energy was lost due to work against friction.

Hence, energy lost due to friction is