Two people pull as hard as they can on ropes attached to a boat of mass 200 kg. If they pull in the same direction, the boat has an acceleration of 4 m/s^2. what is the force exerted by each person on the boat? Disregard any other forces on the boat.
F = ma = 200*4 = ?
Now divide the force among the people pulling.
400
To find the force exerted by each person on the boat, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force exerted on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration.
Let's denote the force exerted by the first person as F1 and the force exerted by the second person as F2. Since they are pulling in the same direction, the net force on the boat is the sum of the forces exerted by each person:
Net Force = F1 + F2
Given that the boat has an acceleration of 4 m/s^2 and a mass of 200 kg, we can write:
Net Force = Mass × Acceleration
F1 + F2 = 200 kg × 4 m/s^2
Now, we need to make an assumption about how the forces are distributed between the two people. Let's assume that both individuals are pulling with the same force, so F1 = F2 = F.
Substituting this assumption into the equation, we get:
F + F = 200 kg × 4 m/s^2
2F = 800 kg·m/s^2
F = 400 kg·m/s^2
Therefore, the force exerted by each person on the boat is 400 kg·m/s^2.