Physics Review Question

Unit: Energy
Year: 1991 Question#: 19
Question: Three people of equal mass climb a mountain using paths A,B, and C shown in the diagram. Along which path(s) does a person gain the greatest amount of gravitational potential energy from start to finish?


(1 ) A, only
(2 ) B, only
(3 ) C, only
(4 ) The gain is the same along all paths.

What is this question really asking?




Explanation by: Dustin C.

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Answer 1
A, only

INCORRECT

This answer is incorrect because of the fact that, even though they all take different paths of different lengths, each person starts at exactly the same place and height and ends at the same place and height. The formula (PE=mgh) Each three of these people go through the same "h." return to top























Answer 2
B, only

INCORRECT

This answer is incorrect because of the fact that, even though they all take different paths of different lengths, each person starts at exactly the same place and height and ends at the same place and height. The formula (PE=mgh) Each three of these people go through the same "h." return to top



























Answer 3
C, only

INCORRECT

This answer is incorrect because of the fact that, even though they all take different paths of different lengths, each person starts at exactly the same place and height and ends at the same place and height. The formula (PE=mgh) Each three of these people go through the same "h." return to top


























Answer 4
The gain is the same along all paths.

CORRECT

This answer is correct because all of the persons started at the same height and ended up at the same place and height. Therefore they all would have the same amount of gravitational potential energy from start to finish. The formula (PE=mgh) Each three of these people go through the same "h." return to top


























What's this question really asking?

How, from a diagram, is gravitational potential energy calculated when there are different paths lengths involved. return to top

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