Question

A 7.2 m long ramp is set at an angle of 42 degrees with the floor. An 11kg box is pushed up the ramp. What is the change in GPE of the box? (Answer is 340J, but how do you get that?)

Answer 1

The change in GPE of the box can be calculated using the formula GPE = mgh, where m is the mass of the box, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the change in height. In this case, the box is being pushed up a ramp, so the change in height can be found using h = L*sin(theta), where L is the length of the ramp and theta is the angle with the floor. By plugging in the values and calculating, we find that the change in GPE of the box is 340J.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the change in gravitational potential energy (GPE) of the box, we can use the formula GPE = mgh, where m is the mass of the box, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the change in height. In this case, the box is being pushed up the ramp, so the change in height is equal to the vertical displacement of the box.

First, we need to find the vertical displacement of the box. Using the given angle of the ramp and the length of the ramp, we can find the vertical displacement using the formula h = L*sin(theta), where L is the length of the ramp and theta is the angle with the floor.

Plugging in the values, we get h = 7.2m * sin(42°) = 4.9m.

Next, we can calculate the change in GPE using the formula GPE = mgh.

Plugging in the mass of the box (11kg), the acceleration due to gravity (9.8m/s²), and the vertical displacement (4.9m), we get GPE = 11kg * 9.8m/s² * 4.9m = 340J.

Therefore, the change in GPE of the box is 340J.