Chapter 7, Problem 30P

A 1 000-kg roller coaster car is initially at the top of a rise, at point Ⓐ. It then moves 135 ft, at an angle of 40.0° below the horizontal, to a lower point Ⓑ. (a) Choose the car at point Ⓑ to be the zero configuration for gravitational potential energy of the roller coaster–Earth system. Find the potential energy of the system when the car is at points Ⓐ and Ⓑ, and the change in potential energy as the car moves between these points. (b) Repeat part (a), setting the zero configuration with the car at point Ⓐ.