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You have been asked to make a roller coaster more exciting. The owners want the speed at the bottom of the first hill doubled. How much higher must the first hill be built?

Question

You have been asked to make a roller coaster more exciting. The owners want the speed at the bottom of the first hill doubled. How much higher must the first hill be built?

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Solution

To answer this question, we need to understand the physics behind roller coasters. The speed of a roller coaster is determined by its potential energy at the top of the hill, which is converted into kinetic energy as it descends. The potential energy is given by the equation PE = mgh, where m is the mass of the roller coaster, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height of the hill. The kinetic energy is given by the equation KE = 1/2mv^2, where m is the mass of the roller coaster and v is its speed.

If we want to double the speed at the bottom of the hill, we need to quadruple the kinetic energy (since the speed is squared in the equation for kinetic energy). This means we need to quadruple the potential energy, which means we need to make the hill four times as high.

So, to double the speed at the bottom of the first hill, the hill must be built four times higher.

This problem has been solved

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