Question:

Instead of traditional brakes, a new type of roller coaster

Last updated: 7/10/2022

Instead of traditional brakes, a new type of roller coaster

Instead of traditional brakes, a new type of roller coaster is slowed down by a spring. The coaster has 5.0 x 105 J of kinetic energy before it compresses the spring and stops. The spring constant of the spring is 2.0 x 104 N/m. How far is the spring compressed in stopping the roller coaster? What are the system and the initial and final states that you chose for the situation? Include a sketch and bar chart with your solution.