Concept explainers
If your car is stuck in the mud and you don’t have a winch to pull it out, you can use a piece of rope and a tree to do the trick. First, you tie one end of the rope to your car and the other to a tree, then pull as hard as you can on the middle of the rope, as shown in Figure P4.68 a. This technique applies a force to the car much larger than the force that you can apply directly. To see why the car experiences such a large force, look at the forces acting on the center point of the rope, as shown in Figure P4.68 b. The sum of the forces is zero, thus the tension is much greater than the force you apply. It is this tension force that acts on the car and, with luck, pulls it free.
Figure P4.68
68. The sum of the three forces acting on the center point of the rope is assumed to be zero because
A. This point has a very small mass.
B. Tension forces in a rope always cancel.
C. This point is not accelerating.
D. The angle of deflection is very small.
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 4 Solutions
College Physics: A Strategic Approach (4th Edition)
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Introduction to Electrodynamics
University Physics (14th Edition)
An Introduction to Thermal Physics
Conceptual Integrated Science
Modern Physics
Essential University Physics: Volume 1 (3rd Edition)
- An object of mass M is held in place by an applied force F and a pulley system as shown in Figure P4.43. The pulleys are massless and frictionless. (a) Draw diagrams showing the forces on each pulley. Find (b) the tension in each section of rope, T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 and (c) the magnitude of F. Figure P4.43 44. Any device that allows you to increase the force you exert is a kind of machine. Some machines, such as the prybar or the inclined plane, are very simple. Some machines do not even look like machines. For example, your car is stuck in the mud and you cant pull hard enough to get it out. You do, however, have a long cable that you connect taut between your front bumper and the trunk of a stout tree. You now pull sideways on the cable at its midpoint, exerting a force f. Each half of the cable is displaced through a small angle from the straight line between the ends of the cable. (a) Deduce an expression for the force acting on the car. (b) Evaluate the cable tension for the case where = 7.00 and f = 100 N.arrow_forwardDraw a free-body diagram for the burglar, who is shown at rest while sneaking through a chimney in Figure P6.6.arrow_forwardReview. A block of mass m = 2.00 kg is released from rest at h = 0.500 m above the surface of a table, at the top of a = 30.0 incline as shown in Figure P4.53. The frictionless incline is fixed on a table of height H = 2.00 m. (a) Determine the acceleration of the block as it slides down the incline. (b) What is the velocity of the block as it leaves the incline? (c) How far from the table will the block hit the floor? (d) What time interval elapses between when the block is released and when it hits the floor? (e) Does the mass of the block affect any of the above calculations? Figure P4.53 Problems 53 and 59arrow_forward
- A ball hanging from a light string or rod can be used as an accelerometer (a device that measures acceleration) as shown in Figure P5.18. What force causes the deflection of the ball? Is the cart in the lower part of the photo an inertial reference frame? How can the balls deflection be used to find the carts acceleration? In which direction is the cart accelerating? Explain your answers.arrow_forwardIf your car is stuck in the mud and you don’t have a winch to pull it out, you can use a piece of rope and a tree to do the trick. First, you tie one end of the rope to your car and the other to a tree, then pull as hard as you can on the middle of the rope, as shown in P4.74a. This technique applies a force to the car much larger than the force that you can apply directly. To see why the car experiences such a large force, look at the forces acting on the center point of the rope, as shown in P4.74b. The sum of the forces is zero, thus the tension is much greater than the force you apply. It is this tension force that acts on the car and, with luck, pulls it free. Assume that you are pulling on the rope but the car is not moving. What is the approximate direction of the force of the mud on the car?A. North B. SouthC. East D. Westarrow_forwardIf your car is stuck in the mud and you don’t have a winch to pull it out, you can use a piece of rope and a tree to do the trick. First, you tie one end of the rope to your car and the other to a tree, then pull as hard as you can on the middle of the rope, as shown in P4.74a. This technique applies a force to the car much larger than the force that you can apply directly. To see why the car experiences such a large force, look at the forces acting on the center point of the rope, as shown in P4.74b. The sum of the forces is zero, thus the tension is much greater than the force you apply. It is this tension force that acts on the car and, with luck, pulls it free. The sum of the three forces acting on the center point of the rope is assumed to be zero becauseA. This point has a very small mass.B. Tension forces in a rope always cancel.C. This point is not accelerating.D. The angle of deflection is very small.arrow_forward
- If your car is stuck in the mud and you don’t have a winch to pull it out, you can use a piece of rope and a tree to do the trick. First, you tie one end of the rope to your car and the other to a tree, then pull as hard as you can on the middle of the rope, as shown in P4.74a. This technique applies a force to the car much larger than the force that you can apply directly. To see why the car experiences such a large force, look at the forces acting on the center point of the rope, as shown in P4.74b. The sum of the forces is zero, thus the tension is much greater than the force you apply. It is this tension force that acts on the car and, with luck, pulls it free. When you are pulling on the rope as shown, what is the approximate direction of the tension force on the tree? A. North B. SouthC. East D. Westarrow_forwardAn aircraft carrier uses a device called a catapult to help accelerate jets to the speed needed for take off. The flight decks on these carriers have length d = 82 m. A jet with a mass of m = 12571 kg can be accelerated from rest to a speed of v = 49 m/s by the end of the flight deck. A.) calculate the numerical value of the magnitude of force F in newtons. B.) Wht is the numerical value of the ratio of the launch force F to the jets weight?arrow_forwardAt a history center, an old canal boat is pulled by two draft horses. It doesn’t take much force to keep the boat moving; the drag force is quite small. But it takes some work to get the 55,000 kg boat up to speed! The horses can pull with a steady force and put a 1400 N tension in the rope that connects to the boat. The rope is straight and level. The boat starts from rest, and the horses pull steadily as they begin their walk down the towpath. How much distance do the horses cover as they bring the boat up to its final speed of 0.70 m/s?arrow_forward
- Erich (80 kg) is trying to pull Sarah up the side of a climbing wall. Erich is at the top of the wall. The rope goes from Erich parallel to the ground, over a pulley, then down to Sarah. It is similar to the two boxes on the right. What is Sarah’s mass if Erich pulls on the rope with a force of 800 N causing him to move away from the cliff at a rate of 0.75 m/s2?Explain your ansarrow_forwardTim got a huge birthday gift from his grandmother. A 400. N crate has been delivered to his driveway. In order to get it started moving toward his door, he has to push it with a horizontal force of 250 N, but as soon as it is moving, he can keep it moving at a constant speed by pushing with a 120 N force. What are the coefficients of static and kinetic friction of Tim's birthday gift and the driveway?arrow_forwardFigure Q4 shows the track of a roller coaster. If the track is to be designed so that the passengers of the roller coaster do not experience a normal force equal to zero or more than 5 times their weight, determine the limiting heights h, and hc so that this does not occur. The roller coaster starts from rest at position A. pB and pc are radii of curvature of the track at locations B and C, respectively. Neglect friction.arrow_forward
- Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based TextPhysicsISBN:9781133104261Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. JewettPublisher:Cengage LearningPhysics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations...PhysicsISBN:9781133939146Author:Katz, Debora M.Publisher:Cengage Learning