How does a slide involve physics???
Without gravity pulling you back toward Earth or really powering the ride, slides wouldn't really slide!  You've just climbed up a mountain of stairs and find yourself staring down an inclined plane, in other words a slide!



                                                                                



At the top of the slide, you have potential energy, (mass * height * gravity).  As you go down the slide, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy.  And the difference in your potential energy and kinetic energy is lost in the form of thermal energy due to friction.  This is why your butt might be a little warm by the bottom of the slide because the friction between you and the slide is slowing your decent and warming your bottom.

Gravity, friction, an inclined plane, and your body mass is all it takes to power a slide!  AMAZING!!