Final answer:
To estimate the applied force needed to lift a weight with a wheelbarrow, calculate the total weight of the load and divide by the mechanical advantage of the wheelbarrow. This provides the force required to lift the weight.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question asks how much force must be applied to the handle of a wheelbarrow to lift the weight. To calculate the applied force, we should take into account the weight of the wheelbarrow's contents and the mechanical advantage provided by the wheelbarrow's design.
The wheelbarrow contains 20 bricks, each with a mass of 3 kg. Therefore, the total mass m of the bricks is 20 bricks × 3 kg/brick = 60 kg. The total weight w of the bricks is calculated by the formula w = m × g, where g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.80 m/s²).
The wheelbarrow has a mechanical advantage (MA) of 13.6, which is calculated as the ratio of the lever arms, MA = 1.02 m / 0.0750 m. This means that the force required to lift the weight will be less than the weight by a factor of 13.6.
To estimate the force applied (F1), we can use the relationship F1 = w / MA. With the total weight w previously calculated, and given the MA, we can evaluate F1 to understand how much force must be exerted by a person lifting the wheelbarrow.