A basketball rolls a ramp sloping upward without slipping. With its centre of mass moving at a certain initial speed. A block of ice of the same mass is set sliding up the ramp with the same speed along a parallel line. Which object will travel farther up the ramp ?

Options

A. basketball
B. the ice block
C. They will travel equally far up the ramp.
D. cannot be decided

Answer

A

Explanation

(a) The basketball-Earth system has more kinetic energy than the ice-Earth system due to the rotational kinetic energy of the basketball. Therefore, when the kinetic energy of both systems has transformed to gravitational potential energy when the objects momentarily come to rest at their highest point on the ramp, the basketball will be at a higher location, corresponding to the larger gravitational potential energy.