Question

Suppose your car is on a 5% grade, meaning that for every 100 m you travel along the road you raise or lower only 5 m in elevation. If your car weighs 1500 kg, what is the component of its weight parallel to the road?

Answer 1

733.47 N

Step-by-step explanation:

For 5% grade, the elevation of the road is

tanθ = 5/100

θ = tan⁻¹0.05 = 2.86°. Which is the angle of elevation of the road.

The component of the weight parallel to the road is thus mgsinθ = 1500 kg × 9.8 m/s²sin2.86° = 733.47 N

Answer 2

734.215N

Step-by-step explanation:

First we calculate the angle that corresponds to a 5% slope using the Tan-1 function

`\beta = tan-1(5%)=2.86`

then we use the component that corresponds to the direction parallel to the road, additionally we must multiply by the gravity value to find the weight(g=9.81m/s^2)

Wx=M*g*sen(2.86)=1500kg*9.81*sen(2.86)=734.215N