AP Physics 1 : Conservation of Energy
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Physics 1
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Example Questions
Example Question #183 : Work, Energy, And Power
A 
This question relies on the conservation of energy. Potential energy is represented by 
Example Question #184 : Work, Energy, And Power
A sports car traveling at 
For this question we will use the conservation of energy. Thus the kinetic energy of the initial situation is proportional to the kinetic energy of the second situation.
The mass does not change.
There is a 
The stopping distance must be multiplied a factor of 
The sports car will now require 
Example Question #185 : Work, Energy, And Power
Tim was taking a practice physics test sitting at an elevated bar top at his house. Tim's brother came down the stairs and scared Tim causing him to knock his calculator off the bar top. If the calculator has a mass of 
Use the conservation of energy to solve.
The calculator will have 
Example Question #186 : Work, Energy, And Power
At a large shipyard in the Atlantic ocean, cranes lift large cargo boxes off of incoming ships. Some of these cargo boxes have a staggering mass near that of 
For this question you may use one of two main methods. For this example, the conservation of energy method is shown.
Initially, all the energy is stored as gravitational potential energy. At the end of the fall all of the energy will be transformed to kinetic energy.
Plug in and solve for the final velocity.
The large cargo box will be traveling at 
Example Question #187 : Work, Energy, And Power
The height at the top of the hill is
If the velocity of the train at the top of the loop is 
Due to conservation of energy, all energy is conserved throughout this problem. When the train is at the top of the hill, all energy is stored in the form of gravitational potential energy, represented by the equation:
Once the train starts rolling down the hill some of that energy gets transferred to kinetic energy, which is represented by the equation:
Because you are given the velocity at the top of the loop it is possible to find the height of the loop by connecting the two equations as follows:
Where 
Example Question #188 : Work, Energy, And Power
The following roller coaster has a height at the top of the hill of 
What is the velocity of the train car at the top of the loop?
Energy must be conserved throughout this problem. The kinetic energy plus the potential energy must be the same at any point on the track. Kinetic energy and potential energy are represented by the following equations:
where 
Since these equations combined must be equal at any point in the track, they can be put together in order to figure out the height at the top of the loop.
Where 
Example Question #181 : Work, Energy, And Power
The following train car has a velocity of 
How far up the hill will the car travel before stopping and starting to roll back down?
Energy must be conserved throughout this entire problem. Kinetic energy and potential energy are represented by the following equations:
Since the train car at the bottom of the hill has no height, all of the energy is in the form of kinetic energy. Because the problem is asking for the height on the track at which the train car stops moving, there is no velocity at that point, therefore all the energy is in the form of potential energy. Since energy is conserved, the kinetic energy at the bottom of the hill must be equal to the potential energy at the point where the train car stops. The following equation can be made to find the height at that point:
where 
Example Question #182 : Work, Energy, And Power
A 
None of these
Since the initial velocity is zero, initial kinetic energy is zero
Plugging in values:
Example Question #41 : Conservation Of Energy
A ball initially rest at the top of a hill beings rolling down the hill.
Which of the following answer choices is true?
The total energy depends on the mass of the ball
The total energy at the top of the hill is greater than the total energy at the bottom of the hill
Total energy at the top of the hill equals total energy at the bottom of the hill
The total energy at the bottom of the hill is greater than the total energy at the top of the hill
The total energy is never constant
Total energy at the top of the hill equals total energy at the bottom of the hill
The correct answer is that the total energy at the top of the hill is equal to the total energy at the bottom of the hill. This is called the Law of Conservation of Energy. This law says that kinetic energy is equal to potential energy. We know that energy can not be created or destroyed, but that it can be transferred from one type to another. The total energy at the top of the hill is all potential energy. As the ball begins rolling down the hill, all the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. Therefore, the total energy remains constant and energy is conserved.
Example Question #41 : Conservation Of Energy
A basketball player shoots a ball from a height of 
None of these
Determining expression for vertical component of ball's initial velocity:
Using conservation of energy:
Solving for
At the maximum height, there will be no motion in the vertical direction, thus
Plugging in values:
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