Question

The image shows the positions of a car on a roller coaster track. Arrange the cars in order based on their gravitational potential energy. Begin with the lowest potential energy and end with the highest.
A B C D E

Answer 1

Correct order, from lowest potential energy to highest potential energy:

E - C - D - B - A

Explanation:

The gravitational potential energy of the car is given by:

$U=mgh$

where

m is the car's mass

g is the gravitational acceleration

h is the height of the car relative to the ground

In the formula, we see that m and g are constant, so the potential energy of the car depends only on its height above the ground, h. The higher the car from the ground, the larger its potential energy. Therefore, the position with least potential energy will be E, since the height is the minimum. Then, C will have more potential energy, because the car is at higher position, and so on: the position with greatest potential energy is A, because the height of the car is maximum.

Answer 2

Answer:

E,C,D,B,A

Explanation: