Question

A skateboarder, just learning to use a half pipe as shown below, drops in off the top of

one side. She stands straight as she skates down the one side and up the other. She

expected to get to the top of other side but didn't make it. The skateboarder recalled

the law of conservation of energy from science and didn't understand why she didn't

make it to the top of the other side. She then watched some more experienced skaters.

She noticed that they bent their knees and pushed off at the bottom.

Explain why the skateboarder did not make it to the top of the other side of the half

pipe. In your reponse, be sure to include:

the law of conservation of energy

where energy was lost as the skateboard moved across the half pipe.

why the other skaters were able to make it to the top.

Answer 1

Answer:

Energy was lost as frictional energy. Hence when trying to move up to the top for the second time, the skateboarder was unable to do so.

The others provided additional energy to make up for the lost energy by dending their knees

Explanation:

According to law of conservation of energy, energy can niether be created nor destroyed but can change its form.

Here kinetic energy of skate boarder was converted into frictional energy and lost in the surroundings(energy was not destroyed but simply changed its form to energy of particles in the air). She was therefore unable to reach to the top the second time.

Other skateboarders faced the same, but the added energy to their movement by converting energy stored in their bodies to their kinetic energies. They were therefore abole to reach to the top.