What happens to the kinetic energy when the roller coaster stops?
A roller coaster ride comes to an end. Magnets on the train induce eddy currents in the braking fins, giving a smooth rise in braking force as the remaining kinetic energy is absorbed by the brakes and converted to thermal energy.
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Eventually when the roller coaster car reaches the bottom, it will have a maximum quantity of kinetic energy as all of the gravitational potential energy has been transformed into kinetic energy.
The maximum kinetic energy generated is when the roller coaster is at the bottom of the track. When it begins to go up, the kinetic energy converts to potential energy.
The law of conservation of energy states that within a closed system, energy can change form, but it cannot be created or destroyed. In other words, the total amount of energy remains constant. On a roller coaster, energy changes from potential to kinetic energy and back again many times over the course of a ride.
The roller coaster cars gain potential energy as they are pulled to the top of the first hill. As the cars descend the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. The coaster cars have the maximum kinetic energy they will ever have throughout the ride.
At the highest point on the roller coaster (assuming it has no velocity), the object has a maximum quantity of gravitational potential energy and no kinetic energy. As the object begins moving down to the bottom, its gravitational potential energy begins to decrease and the kinetic energy begins to increase.
Kinetic energy - the energy of motion - is dependent upon the mass of the object and the speed of the object. The train of coaster cars speeds up as they lose height. Thus, their original potential energy (due to their large height) is transformed into kinetic energy (revealed by their high speeds).
The roller coaster loses potential energy as it goes downhill. We neglect friction, so that the remaining force exerted by the track is the normal force, which is perpendicular to the direction of motion and does no work. The net work on the roller coaster is then done by gravity alone.
At the bottom of the first hill, your kinetic energy is at its highest point. You're going as fast as you'll ever go on this roller coaster ride. To ensure the fun keeps going, the roller coaster's designers put in the second hill. If the first hill were the ride's only one, the fun would be over sooner.
The maximum kinetic energy generated is when the roller coaster is at the bottom of the track. When it begins to go up, the kinetic energy converts to potential energy.