This past weekend, I was going through some old photos because I was helping my mom transfer all our files from our old computer to our new one. I came across this picture of me on this waterslide at the old Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park. I realized all the physics going on in this picture. My weight is pulling me down to the slide and there is a normal force from the slide is pushing back on me, but the two forces aren't equal because I am a slide, so the forces affect me at an angle. Also I am doing work and there is change in energy.
At the very top of the slide, when I was waiting for the lifeguard to say that we could slide down, I only had potential energy. I could've calculated my potential energy by multiplying my mass by gravity and the height of the slide. At the base of the slide my energy was entirely kinetic and it was equal to my potential energy at the top of the slide. Also even though I was on a mat and there was water flowing down, there was still some friction that helps determine how much work I was doing. Or I could have calculated my change of potential energy or kinetic energy to find my work.
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