Question

A wrecking ball is attached to a chain and hooked to a construction vehicle. If the ball has a mass of 350kg and the chain is 5.0m long, and if the ball is swung in an arc by the vehicle with a tangential velocity of 3.0 m/s, what is the tension in the chain at the moment when the ball reaches the lowest point of its swing?

Answer 1

The tension in the chain at the lowest point of the swing is 2070 N.

To solve this problem

The centripetal force is given by the formula:

`F = mv^2/r`

Where

• F is the centripetal force
• m is the mass of the object
• v is the tangential velocity of the object
• r is the radius of the circular motion

Now, the mass of the wrecking ball is 350 kg, the tangential velocity is 3.0 m/s, and the radius of the circular motion is equal to the length of the chain, which is 5.0 m. Plugging these values into the formula, we get:

`F = (350 kg)(3.0 m/s)^2 / (5.0 m)`

F = 2070 N

Therefore, the tension in the chain at the lowest point of the swing is 2070 N.