For a body sliding down a frictionless slope, the speed at the bottom depends on
- A. the length of the slope
- B. the vertical height dropped, but not on the angle of the slope
- C. the mass of the body
- D. the angle only
Explanation
Energy conservation gives half mv squared equal to mgh, so the mass cancels and only the height matters, which means a gentle ramp and a steep one of the same height give the same final speed. The gentle slope simply takes longer. Friction would break this result, since the longer path would then waste more energy.