6. If you are at an amusement park and you ride a slingshot, how does your potential energy compare to your kinetic energy at the top of the shot?
At the top of the slingshot ride, the potential energy is at its maximum. As you are suspended in the air, you have gravitational potential energy due to your height above the ground.
On the other hand, at the top of the shot, your kinetic energy is zero. Since you are momentarily at rest at the highest point of the ride, your velocity is zero, resulting in zero kinetic energy.
Therefore, at the top of the slingshot ride, your potential energy is at its maximum while your kinetic energy is zero.
At the top of the slingshot ride, when you are at the highest point before being launched into the air, your potential energy is at its maximum and your kinetic energy is at its minimum.
Potential energy is the energy stored in an object due to its position or height above the ground. As you go up the slingshot, you are gaining potential energy because you are being lifted to a higher position against the force of gravity. So, at the top, your potential energy is at its highest.
Kinetic energy, on the other hand, is the energy of motion. At the top of the slingshot, your kinetic energy is at its minimum because you are momentarily at rest before being launched downwards. Since you are not moving, your kinetic energy is zero.
As you are launched downwards and start moving, your potential energy begins to decrease, and your kinetic energy starts to increase. This is because, as you descend, your potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, with the maximum kinetic energy being reached at the bottom of the shot when you are moving the fastest and have the least potential energy.