In a closed system, mechanical energy is conserved. In this performance task, you will determine the meaning of the slope of a graph produced when spring energy is used to propel a cart up an incline.

When determining the height traveled by the cart, students measured the length of the ramp, D, the height of the ramp, H, and the distance the cart travels along the ramp as pictured in Figure 1. To find the height the cart travels, they simply use the ratio below and solve for "h":