Question

8.16 Two children hold opposite ends of a lightweight, 1.8 m-long horizontal pole with a water bucket hanging from it. The older child supports twice as much weight as the younger child. How far is the bucket from the older child?

A .3 m
B .6 C .9 m
D 1.2 m

Answer 1

To maintain balance on the seesaw, the bucket is 0.6 m from the older child.

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to maintain balance on the seesaw, the torque on both sides must be equal. The torque is given by the product of the weight and the distance from the pivot point. Since the older child supports twice as much weight as the younger child, the distance from the bucket to the older child must be half the distance of the bucket to the younger child.

Let the distance from the older child to the bucket be x. Then, the distance from the younger child to the bucket is 1.8 m - x. Since the older child supports twice as much weight, the torque equation can be set up as (2W)(x) = (W)(1.8 m - x), where W is the weight. Solving for x gives x = 0.6 m. Therefore, the bucket is 0.6 m from the older child.