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imaweinerz
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Skiers on Different Sloped Hills?
There are 3 skiers , each going down hills of the same height, same x and y starting and ending points. There is no friction on the hill, and each skier starts from rest.
Hill 1 is a concave-up curved slope, dropping quickly and then dropping less rapidlybefore the end point.
Hill 2 is a straight line from the start and end points (linear).
Hill 3 is a concave-down curved hill, dropping slowly at first and then dropping more rapidly before reaching the end point.
Which skiier has the shortest time to reach the bottom, skier 1,2,3 or do they all have the same time, and why?
kinematics equations. Ones I could think of were v=at, v^2-v(0)^2 = 2ax, etc.
I first thought that skier 1 (the concave up skier) would reach the bottom in the shortest time because he has the highest initial acceleration. I know that all skiers have the same final velocity due to no friction and conservation of energy. My current thinking is that all three skiers have the same average acceleration, then they must take the same time to reach the bottom. Thanks for the help!
Homework Statement
There are 3 skiers , each going down hills of the same height, same x and y starting and ending points. There is no friction on the hill, and each skier starts from rest.
Hill 1 is a concave-up curved slope, dropping quickly and then dropping less rapidlybefore the end point.
Hill 2 is a straight line from the start and end points (linear).
Hill 3 is a concave-down curved hill, dropping slowly at first and then dropping more rapidly before reaching the end point.
Which skiier has the shortest time to reach the bottom, skier 1,2,3 or do they all have the same time, and why?
Homework Equations
kinematics equations. Ones I could think of were v=at, v^2-v(0)^2 = 2ax, etc.
The Attempt at a Solution
I first thought that skier 1 (the concave up skier) would reach the bottom in the shortest time because he has the highest initial acceleration. I know that all skiers have the same final velocity due to no friction and conservation of energy. My current thinking is that all three skiers have the same average acceleration, then they must take the same time to reach the bottom. Thanks for the help!