Question

A car is towing a boat on a trailer. The driver starts from rest and accelerates to a velocity of +15.2 m/s in a time of 22.3 s. The combined mass of the boat and trailer is 573 kg. The frictional force acting on the trailer can be ignored. What is the tension in the hitch that connects the trailer to the car?

Answer 1

The tension is 384 N.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the acceleration, we know the velocity and the time, so:

a=Δv/t

`a=(15(m)/(s) )/(22.3s)`

`a=0.67(m)/(s^(2) )`

To calculate the tension we need to apply Newton's second law:

∑F=m*a

`F=573Kg *0.67(m)/(s^(2) )\\F=384N`