Consider the pendulum that hits a shoe at the bottom of its motion

The kinetic energy of the pendulum just before it hits the shoe is the potential energy it lost in falling from the left end of its swing.

In fact, if we ignore air friction and if the shoe were not there, the potential energy attained on the right end of the swing would be equal to the kinetic energy at the bottom.  Now consider the effect of friction, and compare the potential energy at the right end of the swing to the potential energy originally at the left.

• If friction is present, how will the potential energy at the right compare to that on the left?

Please drag and drop the selected option in the right place or type it instead

Show Answer Hide Answer

Reference

Basic Physics: A Self-Teaching Guide