Find the tension in the hitch when a car is towing a trailer

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
3 replies · 8K views
lalalah
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
I think I basically get the gist of this problem, but I want to know wjether i did everything correctly.
So...

1. A car is towing a boat on a trailer. The driver starts from rest and accelerates to a velocity of +18.5 m/s in a time of 25 s. The combined mass of the boat and trailer is 562 kg. The frictional force acting on the trailer can be ignored. What is the tension in the hitch that connects the trailer to the car?



2. using a = v/t , m_u * FN = fk (this might be relevvant, but i didn't use it myself), sigmaFx = m2ax



The Attempt at a Solution



I simply multiplied the mass of the car and trailer by the acceleration found by dividing the velocity by time.
However, this is so simple of an approach that I feel doubts as to whether it is the correct measure:

sigma F = 562 kg * [(18.5 m/s)/(25 s)]
sigma F = 416 N?

is this right?
 
Physics news on Phys.org

Discussion

lalalah said:
I think I basically get the gist of this problem, but I want to know wjether i did everything correctly.
So...

1. A car is towing a boat on a trailer. The driver starts from rest and accelerates to a velocity of +18.5 m/s in a time of 25 s. The combined mass of the boat and trailer is 562 kg. The frictional force acting on the trailer can be ignored. What is the tension in the hitch that connects the trailer to the car?



2. using a = v/t , m_u * FN = fk (this might be relevvant, but i didn't use it myself), sigmaFx = m2ax



The Attempt at a Solution



I simply multiplied the mass of the car and trailer by the acceleration found by dividing the velocity by time.
However, this is so simple of an approach that I feel doubts as to whether it is the correct measure:

sigma F = 562 kg * [(18.5 m/s)/(25 s)]
sigma F = 416 N?

is this right?
Is the mass of the car given? The problem states the mass of the boat and trailer only. Your answer is correct only if you assume the car has negligible mass, which is a bit silly, so that's why I'm wondering if you left out something in the problem statement.
 
so it's correct? yay! the weight of the car is negligable