Roller coasters are designed so that the total potential energy of the roller coaster at any point is equal to the total kinetic energy of any other point. What laws of physics does this illustrate?
Law of conservation of energy
Newton's law of motion
Law of conservation of momentum
Law of thermodynamics
The design described in the roller coaster problem illustrates the law of conservation of energy. This law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another. At any point on the roller coaster, the sum of the potential and kinetic energies is constant.