What is the work and power involved in pushing a cart at a 30 degree angle?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves calculating work and power related to a girl pushing a cart at a 30-degree angle with a specified force over a given distance and time. The subject area includes concepts from mechanics, specifically work-energy principles and power calculations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply the work formula W=Fdcos(theta) and expresses uncertainty regarding unit conversions, particularly when transitioning from minutes to seconds for power calculations.

Discussion Status

Some participants confirm the calculations made by the original poster, indicating that the results appear reasonable. There is ongoing discussion about the correctness of unit conversions and whether all units were handled appropriately.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the importance of using SI units for calculations and express concern about the specifics requested in the problem statement, which may have contributed to confusion regarding units.

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Homework Statement



A girl (starting from rest) is pushing a cart full of softballs at an angle of 30 degrees above the horizontal. She pushes with a force of 150N. She travels through the school store for 20 minutes and travels a total of 800meters.

a). How much work (in joules) does she do?

b). What is average power (in watts) over the entire time?

Homework Equations


W=Fdcos(theta), P=W/t, W=J/s

The Attempt at a Solution


For part a) I did W=Fdcos(theta) and got 103,923J and for part b) I'm not sure how to write the units because it is in minutes so I just converted 20 minutes to 1200 seconds and got 87 watts, I just don't think I did everything correct because of the large numbers and the units have confused me.
 
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Your calculations look correct to me. The result of 87 watts is a reasonable power output for a schoolgirl working comfortably below maximum effort.
 
andrewkirk said:
Your calculations look correct to me. The result of 87 watts is a reasonable power output for a schoolgirl working comfortably below maximum effort.
Were all my units correct because the question asked for specifics and that is what confused me?
 
Yes the units are correct. The base SI units are metres, seconds and kilograms. A Joule is one Newton metre, a Newton is one ##kg\ ms^{-2}##, and Watt is one Joule per second. Calculations should be in SI units except where specified otherwise, and that's what you've done. Hence for instance your conversion of minutes to seconds was the correct thing to do.
 

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