Concept explainers
The reason for increase in speed of a bicyclist on a downhill road without pedaling and whether this violates conservation of energy principle?
Explanation of Solution
When a bicyclist is on downhill road, the gravitational acceleration pulls down the bicyclist towards flat road, the bicyclist starts moving and further the speed of bicyclist is increased. Here, the potential energy of bicyclist is converted into kinetic energy.
This phenomenon does not violate law of conservation of energy. The law of conservation of energy states that the energy neither be created nor to be destroyed, one form of energy can be converted in to another form.
In general, the potential energy of any objects decreases with elevation (height). As the bicyclist goes down, the potential energy is decreased and the kinetic energy is increased. Thus, the total energy of the bicyclist is conserved.
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