Question

A hand-held shopping basket 62.0 cm long has a 1.81 kg carton of milk at one end, and a 0.722 kg box of cereal at the other end. Where should a 1.80 kg container of orange juice be placed so that the basket balances at its center?

Answer 1

To balance the hand-held shopping basket with different weights on each end, you can use the equation (1.81 kg)(distance from center on one end) = (0.722 kg)(distance from center on the other end) to find the distance at which the 1.80 kg container of orange juice should be placed.

Step-by-step explanation:

To balance the hand-held shopping basket, the torques on each end of the basket must be equal. Torque is calculated by multiplying the weight of an object by the distance from the center. In this case, the torques on one end are given by 1.81 kg (weight of carton of milk) times the distance from the center and the torques on the other end are given by 0.722 kg (weight of box of cereal) times the distance from the center. To find the distance at which the 1.80 kg container of orange juice should be placed, we can set up the equation:

(1.81 kg)(distance from center on one end) = (0.722 kg)(distance from center on the other end)

Solving for the distance from the center gives:

distance from center = (0.722 kg)(distance from center on the other end) / (1.81 kg)