An environmentally conscious physics student mows her lawn with a push mower, exerting a force of 250 N along the handle at 40° west of North. How much force is actually being used to push the mower along the ground?
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An environmentally conscious physics student mows her lawn with a push mower, exerting a force of 250 N along the handle at 40° west of North. How much force is actually being used to push the mower along the ground?
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The force that is actually being used to push the mower along the ground is 200 N. This is because the force of 250 N is not entirely in the direction of the ground. The force is actually at an angle of 40° west of North, so only a portion of it is in the direction of the ground.
To calculate the force that is actually being used to push the mower along the ground, we can use the following formula:
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Force along ground = Force applied * cos(angle)
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where:
In this case, the force applied is 250 N, the angle is 40°, and the force along the ground is:
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Force along ground = 250 N * cos(40°) = 200 N
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Therefore, the force that is actually being used to push the mower along the ground is 200 N.