Bending is a winter sport in which participants push a 15 kg rock across a horizontal snow patch. In 3.0 seconds, a bender accelerates a rock from rest to 4.0 m/s. What is the average power of the bender for accelerating the rock?
We can use the following formula to calculate power:
Power = Work / Time
First, we need to calculate the work done by the bender in accelerating the rock. We can use the formula for work:
Work = Force x Distance
The force applied to the rock is its mass times its acceleration:
Force = mass x acceleration = 15 kg x 4.0 m/s^2 = 60 N
The distance over which this force is applied is the length of the snow patch. We don't know the exact length, but we don't need it because we are only interested in the average power, which is independent of distance. Therefore, we can choose any reasonable value for the distance, say 10 meters (this is just an example; the actual value doesn't matter).
Distance = 10 m
Therefore, the work done by the bender is:
Work = Force x Distance = 60 N x 10 m = 600 J
Now we can calculate the average power:
Power = Work / Time = 600 J / 3.0 s = 200 W
Therefore, the average power of the bender for accelerating the rock is 200 watts.