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A tow truck tows a car along a level road. The cable attaching the car to the tow truck makes an angle of 37 degrees above the horizontal. The coefficient of friction between the car and the road is μ = 0.198, and the tension in the cable is 6510 N. What is the weight of the car in Newtons (N)?

a) 1550 N
b) 4000 N
c) 1100 N
d) 3200 N

User Aledpardo
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The weight of the car being towed, calculated from the tension in the towing cable and the given angle, is approximately 3917 N, which doesn't directly match any of the provided answer choices.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the weight of the car being towed, we must analyze the forces acting on the car. We are given that the cable's tension is 6510 N and that it makes an angle of 37 degrees above the horizontal. The vertical component of this tension will support the weight of the car, and the horizontal component is responsible for overcoming friction to tow the car along the road. Using trigonometry, the vertical component (Ty) is T sin(θ) = 6510 N × sin(37°).

Friction, which opposes the horizontal component of tension, is determined by the coefficient of friction (μ = 0.198) and the normal force, which is the weight of the car in this case. The frictional force (Ff) is μ × weight. Since the car is not accelerating vertically, the vertical components of all forces must balance out. Therefore, Ty = weight, which implies that the car's weight is also equal to T sin(θ).

Calculating Ty, we have Ty = 6510 N × sin(37°) = 6510 N × 0.6018 ≈ 3917 N. Since Ty = weight, the weight of the car is approximately 3917 N, and from the given options, none directly match. We would have to conclude either there's a misinterpretation or potential typographical error in the given options.

User Loufs
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