A man carries a 10 kg sack of groceries in his arms with a force of 50 N as he walks forward a distance of 10 m. How much work has he done? Is this a trick question?
no trick. He only moves horizontal, does not work.
Okay, I figured this was the answer. Not to mention, mathematically, the calculation would be
W = (10)(9.8)(cos90)(10)
But, cos90 = 0, so the calculation shows that the man does 0 J of work. If the question had concerned him picking up the sack vertically, then work would have been done. Thank you, I just wanted to check my thinking!
This is not a trick question! Work is defined as the product of force and the distance over which the force is applied. In this case, the force exerted is 50 N and the distance covered is 10 m.
To calculate the work done, use the formula:
Work = Force × Distance
Plugging in the values:
Work = 50 N × 10 m
Work = 500 N·m
The unit N·m is equivalent to a joule (J), which is the unit of work. Therefore, the man has done 500 joules of work in carrying the sack of groceries.
No, this is not a trick question. To calculate the work done by the man, you can use the formula:
Work = Force × Distance × cos(θ)
Where:
- Force is the magnitude of the force applied by the man (50 N).
- Distance is the distance over which the force is applied (10 m).
- θ is the angle between the direction of the force and the direction of displacement (since the man is walking forward, the angle between the force and displacement is 0 degrees, so cos(0) = 1).
Using these values, you can calculate the work done as follows:
Work = 50 N × 10 m × cos(0)
= 50 N × 10 m × 1
= 500 N·m
= 500 J (joules)
Therefore, the man has done 500 joules of work by carrying the sack of groceries over a distance of 10 meters with a force of 50 Newtons.