# A roller coaster car starts from rest at the top of a hill and rolls down to the bottom. Explain what happens to the energy stores of the roller coaster car as it travels from the top to the bottom of the hill, assuming there is no friction.

> Edexcel GCSE Physics (1PH0) — 3.1 Conservation of energy · Explain · 4 marks

> A roller coaster car is released from rest at the top of a hill. The car rolls down to the bottom of the hill without any friction acting on it.

## Mark scheme (4 marks)

1. The car has gravitational potential energy (GPE) at the top of the hill
2. As the car moves down the hill, the gravitational potential energy decreases / is transferred
3. The gravitational potential energy is transferred to the kinetic energy store
4. Because there is no friction, no energy is dissipated / wasted, so the total energy of the closed system remains constant / is conserved

## Related

- [Revision notes for Edexcel GCSE Physics (1PH0)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
- [How to answer "Explain" questions](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/tools/command-word-cheatsheet)
- [Practice this with AI marking (free)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/start)

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