Question

Two persons manage to push a motorcar of mass 1200 kg at a uniform velocity along a level road. The same motorcar can be pushed by three persons to produce an acceleration of 0.2 m s-2. With what force does each person push the motorcar? (Assume that all persons push the motorcar with the same muscular effort)

Answer 1

Step 1:Given:

$m=1200\text{kg}$

$a=0.2\frac{\text{m}}{{\text{s}}^2}$

Step 2:To Find Force does each person push the motorcar.

Step 3: Calculate force:

$$\begin{gathered} F=ma \\ =0.2\times 1200 \\ =240\text{N} \end{gathered}$$

The force applied by the third person on the car is 240 N. Since all 3 people push with the same muscular effort, the force applied by each person on the car is 240 N.