A new ride being built at an amusement park includes a vertical drop of 71.6 meters. Starting from rest, the ride vertically drops that distance before the track curves forward. If the velocity at the bottom of the drop is 10.0 m/s and the mass of the cart and passengers is 3.5 x 104 kg, how much potential energy was converted into thermal energy (heat)?

A. 2.3 x 10^7 J
B. 2.6 x 10^7 J
C. 4.3 x 10^7 J
D. 6.7 x 10^7 J