Question

A woman drives her car up onto wheel ramps to perform some repairs. If she drives a distance of 5.0 meters along the ramp to raise the car 0.5 meter, what is the ideal mechanical advantage of the wheel ramps?

Answer 1

To find the ideal mechanical advantage of the wheel ramps, divide the distance traveled along the ramp (5.0 meters) by the height the car is raised (0.5 meters), resulting in an IMA of 10.

Step-by-step explanation:

The ideal mechanical advantage (IMA) of a ramp is the ratio of the distance traveled along the ramp to the vertical height gained. This can be calculated by dividing the length of the ramp (the distance the car moves) by the height it raises the car. In this case, the woman drives a distance of 5.0 meters along the ramp to raise the car 0.5 meters. Therefore, the IMA can be calculated as IMA = Length of the ramp / Height raised = 5.0 meters / 0.5 meters = 10.

This means that the ramp provides a mechanical advantage of 10, which implies that for every 10 units of distance traveled along the ramp, the car is raised 1 unit of distance in height. Ideal Mechanical Advantage is a part of physics that deals with simple machines and their efficiency in transmitting or converting forces and motion.