Question

A different group of students decided to do this experiment by

Answer 1

Answer:

Using an object of less mass can reduce the energy lost due to friction.

Explanation:

let the mass of the object be M.

acceleration due to gravity be g, coefficient of kinetic friction between object and slider be $\alpha$  , angle between horizntal and slider be ∅ and distance slided by the object be d.

work done by friction of the ramp will be the energy lost by ramp due to friction.

work done = force×displacement

force = $\alpha$×M×g×cos∅

displacement= d

therefore work done =  $\alpha$×M×g×cos∅×d

therefore on decreasing the mass M we can see that work done by friction decreases so the energy lost due to friction also decreases.