If a car is accelerating downhill under a net force of 3674 N, what force must the brakes exert to cause the car to have a constant velocity?
The new net force must be zero, so the brakes have to apply 3674N.
To determine the force required to cause the car to have a constant velocity, we need to consider the forces acting on the car. In this case, the net force acting on the car is the force of gravity pulling the car downhill. According to Newton's second law of motion, force (F) is equal to mass (m) multiplied by acceleration (a). However, in this scenario, the car is accelerating downhill, so we need to take the negative of the acceleration.
The force of gravity can be calculated as the product of mass (m) and the acceleration due to gravity (g). Since we are measuring net force, we include the negative sign to indicate the direction of force (opposite to the motion). So, the force of gravity is -m * g.
The net force acting on the car is given as 3674 N. Since the net force is the sum of all forces acting on the car, we can set up an equation:
Net force = Force of gravity + Force from brakes
Substituting the values, we have:
3674 N = -m * g + Force from brakes
We want the car to have a constant velocity, which means the acceleration should be zero. Therefore, the net force should be zero. Now we can solve for the force from the brakes:
0 = -m * g + Force from brakes
Rearranging the equation gives us:
Force from brakes = m * g
Therefore, the force that the brakes must exert to cause the car to have a constant velocity is equal to the product of the car's mass (m) and the acceleration due to gravity (g).