Energy Conservation with Conservative Forces: Swimmers at a Water Park

Energy conservation with conservative forces: Swimmers at a water park have a choice of two frictionless water slides as shown in the figure. Although both slides drop over the same height, h, slide 1 is straight while slide 2 is curved, dropping quickly at first and then leveling out. How does the speed v₁ of a swimmer reaching the end of slide 1 compares with v₂, the speed of a swimmer reaching the end of slide 2?

A) v₁ > v₂
B) v₁ < v₂
C) v₁ = v₂
D) No simple relationship exists between v₁ and v₂ because we do not know the curvature of slide 2.