Final answer:
Increasing the MASS of the coaster cars on simulation results in an increase in both work done and total energy of the system, due to a rise in gravitational potential energy and consequently kinetic energy as the coaster moves.
Step-by-step explanation:
When exploring the simulation and you increase the MASS of the coaster cars, what happens is that both the work done and the total energy of the roller-coaster-Earth system increase. According to the principles of physics, increasing the mass of the coaster cars increases the gravitational potential energy (PEg) because potential energy is calculated as PEg = mass (m) × gravitational acceleration (g) × height (h). Since the mass is a part of the equation, a higher mass results in greater potential energy at the top of the roller coaster. Furthermore, as the coaster descends, this gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy (KE), which can be represented by the equation KE = 0.5 × mass (m) × velocity squared (v²). If friction is negligible, as it typically is in such physics problems, the work done by gravity translates into an increase in kinetic energy equal to the loss in potential energy. Therefore, because the potential energy is greater due to the higher mass, the kinetic energy is also greater as the coaster descends, resulting in more total mechanical energy in the system.