A businesswoman is applying a force of 12.0 N [upwards] to carry her briefcase for a horizontal distance of 200.0 m. How much work is she doing on the briefcase?
zero. Force is perpendicular to the distance traveled.
Thanks!
To find the work done by the businesswoman on the briefcase, you can use the equation:
Work = Force × Distance × cos(θ)
Where:
- Force is the magnitude of the applied force (12.0 N).
- Distance is the distance over which the force is applied (200.0 m).
- θ is the angle between the direction of the applied force and the direction of the movement.
In this case, the angle between the applied force and the direction of movement is not specified, so we can assume that the applied force is in the same direction as the distance traveled (horizontal direction). Therefore, the angle θ is 0 degrees or cos(0) = 1.
Let's calculate the work:
Work = 12.0 N × 200.0 m × cos(0)
Work = 2400.0 N·m
So, the businesswoman is doing 2400.0 N·m (Newton-meters) of work on the briefcase.