If a roller coaster has 8 cars each with a mass of 95.0 kg and reaches a height of 24.8 m, what is the gravitational potential energy of the train?

To calculate the gravitational potential energy of the roller coaster train, we can use the formula for gravitational potential energy, which is given by:

[ PE = m \cdot g \cdot h ]

where:

• ( PE ) is the gravitational potential energy,

• ( m ) is the total mass of the roller coaster train,

• ( g ) is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately ( 9.81 , \text{m/s}^2 )),

• ( h ) is the height above ground level.

In this scenario, the roller coaster has 8 cars, each with a mass of 95.0 kg. Therefore, the total mass, ( m ), is:

[ m = 8 \cdot 95.0 , \text{kg} = 760.0 , \text{kg} ]

The height ( h ) is given as 24.8 m.

Now, substituting the values into the potential energy formula, we have:

[ PE = 760.0 , \text{kg} \cdot 9.81 , \text{m/s}^2 \cdot 24.8 ,