Question

A giant boulder rolls off the side of a mountain. While falling 112 m to the ground, the work done by gravity is 5600 J of work on the boulder. If the boulder's trip was 4.78 seconds, calculate the Power produced by gravity.

a) 1168.2 W
b) 1173.1 W
c) 1180.0 W
d) 1184.7 W

Answer 1

The power produced by gravity on the boulder is calculated by dividing the work done (5600 J) by the time taken (4.78 s), resulting in a power of approximately 1173.64 W, with the nearest answer choice being 1173.1 W.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asked how to calculate the Power produced by gravity when a giant boulder falls 112 m to the ground doing 5600 J of work over 4.78 seconds. Power is the rate at which work is done, which can be calculated by dividing the work done by the time over which it is done. Based on the information provided, we use the formula Power = Work / Time to calculate the power. By substituting the given values, we find:

Power = 5600 J / 4.78 s = 1173.64 Watts (W)

Looking at the answer choices, the closest one and therefore the correct one is (b) 1173.1 W.