What are the forces at play in Sally's car rescue scenario?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 7282
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Dynamics System
AI Thread Summary
Sally's car is stuck in a snow bank, and she is using a rope tied to a tree to attempt a rescue. The problem involves calculating the force applied to the car when Sydney pulls on the rope with a force of 425 N over a horizontal distance of 1.50 m. The discussion highlights the importance of understanding the forces acting at the midpoint where Sally pulls, including the tension in the rope and the angles formed. It emphasizes the need to analyze the forces in balance since the car is not moving. Properly labeling the angles and components of the forces is crucial for solving the problem effectively.
7282
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hey, I'm having problems with this questions

Sally’s car is stuck in a snow bank, but she is very knowledgeable about physics. She ties a rope from her car to a tree 25.0 m away and then pulls sideways on the rope at the midpoint. If Sydney applies a force of 425 N and draws the rope over a horizontal distance of 1.50 m, how much force is applied to the car?

I've drawn out a diagram
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b505/homework2012/q2_zps6d9f0975.jpg

How do i begin to solve this?
I think that the triangle formed will be an isosceles triangle so 2 angles are the same with 2 side lengths (T in 1st rope=2 in second rope)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You haven't shown all the forces on your diagram. Let's call the point at which Sally is pulling point S. What are the forces acting at Point S? Well obviously there is the force Sally is applying but there are also two other forces, one for each rope. Since the car isn't moving (yet) the forces are all in balance. Label an angle and look at the components of the various forces.
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...
Back
Top