Michelle pulls a 14.5 kg wheeled cart with a rope along a flat road. The rope makes a 28.0 degree angle with the horizontal. If the tension in the rope is 350 N and she pulls the cart 56.7m how much work does Michelle do?
To calculate the work Michelle does, we can use the formula:
Work = Force * Distance * cos(theta)
Where,
- Force is the tension in the rope, which is 350 N (given)
- Distance is the distance Michelle pulls the cart, which is 56.7 m (given)
- theta is the angle between the force and the direction of motion, which is 28.0 degrees (given)
Now, let's substitute these values into the formula:
Work = 350 N * 56.7 m * cos(28.0 degrees)
To find the cosine of 28.0 degrees, we can use a scientific calculator or an online trigonometric calculator, which gives us a result of approximately 0.8829.
Work = 350 N * 56.7 m * 0.8829
Calculating this expression gives us the final result:
Work ≈ 17,343.2 joules
Therefore, Michelle does approximately 17,343.2 joules of work while pulling the cart.