A car of mass 900 kg pulls a caravan of mass 400 kg along a straight horizontal road with an acceleration of 2 ms-2. Assuming that the frictional forces are negligible, the tension in the coupling between the car and caravan is
To calculate the tension in the coupling between the car and caravan, you need to use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the net force acting on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration.
In this case, the net force acting on the car and caravan system is the tension in the coupling. Since the car and caravan are accelerating together, the net force is equal to the sum of the product of their masses and the acceleration:
Net force = (mass of car + mass of caravan) × acceleration
Given that the mass of the car is 900 kg, the mass of the caravan is 400 kg, and the acceleration is 2 m/s², the calculation becomes:
Net force = (900 kg + 400 kg) × 2 m/s²
= 1300 kg × 2 m/s²
= 2600 N
Therefore, the tension in the coupling between the car and caravan is 2600 Newtons (N).