A jet plane takes about 56 s to go from rest to the takeoff speed of 120 mph (miles per hour). What is the average horizontal force that the seat exerts on the back of a 60-kg passenger during takeoff?
First make sure that each of the values are in SI units.
Use 1 mile = 1609 meters
v_{plane} =___________{meters}/{second}
120 mi/h (1609 m/mi)(1 h/3600s) = 53.6 m/s
F = change in momentum/time
= 60 (53.6)/56 = 57.5 Newtons
To find the velocity of the plane in meters per second, we need to convert the takeoff speed from miles per hour to meters per second.
Given:
Takeoff speed = 120 mph
1 mile = 1609 meters
To convert mph to m/s, we can use the following conversion factors:
1 mile = 1609 meters
1 hour = 3600 seconds
First, convert mph to meters per second:
120 mph * 1609 meters/1 mile * 1 hour/3600 seconds = v_plane in meters per second
Calculating the above expression will give us the value of v_plane in meters per second.