An elevator has a mass of 1200.0 kg. It is rising at a steady speed of 3.00 m/s. What is the tension in the cable lifting the elevator?
so T=mg + ma
m=1200.0kg
g=9.8 m/s^2
a=??
I'm not sure how to get acceleration from what is given.
steady speed means no acceleration
wow...thanks I always find myself getting stumped when I have problems with steady speed. I need to remember this!
so if 1200 x 9.8= 11760
the answer choices provided are
11800
15400
8160
3600
I'm assuming 11800 is the answer the professor wants us to round to 3 significant figures??
yes
To find the acceleration, we need more information. In this scenario, the elevator is rising at a steady speed of 3.00 m/s, which means the acceleration is zero. When the elevator is moving at a constant speed, the net force acting on it is zero.
Therefore, the equation "T = mg + ma" can be simplified since "ma" becomes zero. We can rewrite the equation as:
T = mg
Now, we can plug in the known values:
m = 1200.0 kg
g = 9.8 m/s^2
T = (1200.0 kg)(9.8 m/s^2)
T = 11760 N
So, the tension in the cable lifting the elevator is 11760 N.