Chapter 8, Problem 8.99P

CP An outlaw cuts loose a wagon with two boxes of gold, of total mass 300 kg, when the wagon is at rest 50 m up a 6.0° slope. The outlaw plans to have the wagon roll down the slope and across the level ground, and then fall into a canyon where his accomplices wait. But in a tree 40 m from the canyon’s cliff wait the Lone Ranger (mass 75.0 kg) and Tonto (mass 60.0 kg). They drop vertically into the wagon as it passes beneath them (Fig. P8.99). (a) If they require 5.0 s to grab the gold and jump out, will they make it before the wagon goes over the cliff? The wagon rolls with negligible friction. (b) When the two heroes drop into the wagon, is the kinetic energy of the system of heroes plus wagon conserved? If not, does it increase or decrease, and by how much?