At the starting gate of a downhill ski race, a skier pushes with his arms and legs to get as fast a start as possible. The skier leaves the starting gate with an initial speed of 1.60m/s.
The race course is made up of both steep and flat sections. A the end of the first flat section, the vertical distance from the skier to the finish line is 80.0m and the skier has a speed of 20.0m/s. At the end of the steepest section, the skier reaches his maximum speed of 33.3m/s (120km/h). The mass of the skier is 68.2kg.
a) The magnitude of impulse on the skier as he leaves the starting gate is?
b) At the end of the first flat section, the mechanical energy of the skier, with respect to the finish line is?
c) If there were no friction on the skier,the minimum vertical distance from the starting gate that the skier would have to descend in order to reach his maximum speed would be?