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Daily Problem·Thursday, 18 September 2025Back to today

Conservation of energy — roller coaster

GCSE · Combined Science · Edexcel · CP3.1Energy stores and transfers (kinetic, gravitational potential, elastic, thermal, chemical, nuclear); conservation of energy and dissipation

Question

A rollercoaster car of mass 800 kg starts from rest at the top of a 30 m hill. At the bottom of the hill it has a speed of 20 m/s. (g = 10 N/kg)

(a) Calculate the gravitational potential energy (GPE) of the car at the top of the hill. [2 marks]

(b) Calculate the kinetic energy (KE) of the car at the bottom. [2 marks]

(c) The GPE at the top is greater than the KE at the bottom. Explain what has happened to the "missing" energy, and explain why energy is conserved overall. [3 marks]

7 marks · take your time before peeking.

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Generated by TopMyGrade AI · cross-check official sources before relying on the mark-scheme phrasing.