Question

A roller coaster is moving at 25 m/sec at the bottom of a hill. Three seconds later it reaches the top of the next hill, moving at 10m/sec. What is the acceleration (negative acceleration is slowing down) of the roller coaster?

Answer 1

Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. It can be calculated using the formula:

a = (vf - vi) / t

Given:

vi = 25 m/s (initial velocity)

vf = 10 m/s (final velocity)

t = 3 s (time interval)

a = (vf - vi) / t = (10 m/s - 25 m/s) / 3 s = -15 m/s^2

The acceleration of the roller coaster is -15 m/s^2.

Negative acceleration indicates that the roller coaster is slowing down. This means that the roller coaster is losing speed as it reaches the top of the hill. The roller coaster is decelerating (negative acceleration) while it climbs the hill, so that it can move with a lower velocity at the top of the hill.