The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving the acceleration of railway cars by a train engine. The original poster presents a scenario where a train engine with a specified mass can accelerate a certain number of railway cars at a given rate, and they seek to determine the acceleration for a different number of cars.
The discussion is ongoing, with participants providing guidance on how to apply Newton's 2nd law to the problem. There is an emphasis on understanding the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration, but no consensus or resolution has been reached yet.
Participants express confusion regarding the problem setup and the application of the relevant physics concepts. The original poster has not provided a complete understanding of the problem, which may affect the discussion's progress.
you should start by showing us what you know about Newton's 2nd law and how you might apply it to solve this problem.raman911 said:The engine of a train has mass of 5*10^4kg. It can accelerate six rail way cars having a total mass of 3*10^5kg at 0.40m/s^2. What acceleration can it give four railway cars having a total mass of 2*10^5kg?
i don't know what to do?
please help
PhanthomJay said:you should start by showing us what you know about Newton's 2nd law and how you might apply it to solve this problem.
Yes, correct. Now in the problem statement, you are given the acceleration and the mass of the engine and the and 6 cars. Can you solve for Fnet?raman911 said:Fnet=ma
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PhanthomJay said:Yes, correct. Now in the problem statement, you are given the acceleration and the mass of the engine and the and 6 cars. Can you solve for Fnet?