Question

use the image below to determine which sled will be traveling the fastest at the bottom of the hill? drag the sleds to set their heights, set masses with the sliders, and choose the collision type. click play to start the sleds. height: 50.0 m height: 50.0 m red sled mass: 200 kg blue sled mass: 10 kg a the blue sled will be the fastest sled b both sleds will reach the bottom at the same time and have the same speeds c the red sled will be the fastest sled d not enough information to answer the question.

Explanation:

Step1: Apply conservation of mechanical energy

By $mgh=\frac{1}{2}mv^{2}$, we can simplify to $v = \sqrt{2gh}$.

Step2: Analyze the formula

The final - speed $v$ of an object sliding down a friction - less hill depends only on the height $h$ of the hill and the acceleration due to gravity $g$, and is independent of the mass $m$ of the object. Since both sleds start from the same height, they will have the same speed at the bottom of the hill.

Answer:

b. both sleds will reach the bottom at the same time and have the same speeds