What Is Better? D-Land Or D-World?

[Artie Choke]

Okay, here's the scoop on why more mass = faster runs (from this web site: Energy Transformation on a Roller Coaster)

At the top of the hill, the cars possess a large quantity of potential energy. Potential energy - the energy of vertical position - is dependent upon the mass of the object and the height of the object. The car's large quantity of potential energy is due to the fact that they are elevated to a large height above the ground. As the cars descend the first drop they lose much of this potential energy in accord with their loss of height. The cars subsequently gain kinetic energy. Kinetic energy - the energy of motion - is dependent upon the mass of the object and the speed of the object.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

well yeah the higher mass object may have more kinetic energyy - but it's all potential kinectic energy till that energy is released somehow i.e. the heavier roller coaster cart will hit the ground (if it were to hit the ground -or you can translate it into heat generated while breaking maybe..) with more energy, releasing more energy into the ground than the lighter cart -- but won't they will both hit the ground at the same speed?..alternately, the more massive cart will have to break harder or dispel more heat to stop than the less massive cart...but at the point of breaking they'll be going the same speed?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Artie Choke:
Okay, here's the scoop on why more mass = faster runs (from this web site: Energy Transformation on a Roller Coaster)

At the top of the hill, the cars possess a large quantity of potential energy. Potential energy - the energy of vertical position - is dependent upon the mass of the object and the height of the object. The car's large quantity of potential energy is due to the fact that they are elevated to a large height above the ground. As the cars descend the first drop they lose much of this potential energy in accord with their loss of height. The cars subsequently gain kinetic energy. Kinetic energy - the energy of motion - is dependent upon the mass of the object and the speed of the object.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[Artie Choke]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ted the Led:
well yeah the higher mass object may have more kinetic energyy - but it's all potential kinectic energy till that energy is released somehow i.e. the heavier roller coaster cart will hit the ground (if it were to hit the ground -or you can translate it into heat generated while breaking maybe..) with more energy, releasing more energy into the ground than the lighter cart -- but won't they will both hit the ground at the same speed?...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If it was only due to gravity, I think that would be the case, but there are other forces besides gravity - centripetal and centrifugal, etc. Newton's second law is F=ma, so if the force is higher and the mass is higher, then the acceleration will be higher, resulting in a higher velocity - at least that's my theory - and I'm stickin' too it!