Question

A football coach sits on a sled while two of his players build their strength by dragging the sled across the field with ropes. The friction fource on the sled is 1000N and the angle between the two ropes is 20°. How hard must each player pull to drag the coach at a steady 2.0m/s?

Answer 1

F=507.7N

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Newton's second law:

`\sum F=m.a`

in this case, the football players need to drag the coach at a constant velocity, thus means with no acceleration, so:

`\sum F=0\\\\-F_f+F_p*cos(\theta)=0\\\\`

there are 20 degrees between the two ropes that means each player exerts a force 10 degrees from the zero reference.

`F_p=2*F\\\\F=(1000N)/(2*cos(10))\\\\F=507.7N`