Question

A 16.9 kg monkey is swinging on a

5.32 m long vine. It starts at rest,
with the vine at a 43.0° angle.
How much PE does the monkey
have?
(Unit = J)

Answer 1

To find the potential energy of the swinging monkey, use the formula PE = mgh, finding the height by using the vine length and the angle of the swing to determine the vertical position above the lowest point.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks how much potential energy (PE) the monkey has when swinging from a vine at a certain angle. To calculate the PE, we can use the formula for gravitational potential energy, which is PE = mgh, where m is the mass of the monkey (16.9 kg), g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2), and h is the height above the lowest point of the swing.

First, we need to find the height h. Since the monkey starts at rest from a 43.0° angle, we can determine the vertical distance the monkey is above the lowest point of the swing by using the sine function: h = L - L*cos(43.0°) = L(1 - cos(43.0°)), where L is the length of the vine (5.32 m). This gives us the height above the lowest point of the swing.

After plugging the values into the gravitational potential energy formula, we can calculate the potential energy of the monkey. Remember to convert all measurements to the correct units for calculating energy in joules (J).