Question

On sledding hills, there are often rules against having many people sled down at the same time together. Why is that? (1 point)

The mass of that many people would make it hard to get much kinetic energy.


If many people collided with one person, then there would be a larger transfer of kinetic energy. (my answer)


If many people collided with one person, then their speed would decrease by a large amount.


If people collided with each other in a row, then the kinetic energy would build up.

Answer 1

I agree with your answer - the acceleration of the sled and hence its velocity at any time does not depend on the mass of the sled and occupants

F = m a = m g sin θ force accelerating sled - and a does not depend on m

So also the total KE would be larger for a larger total mass