Question

The wind force f on a sail varies jointly as the area a of the sail and the square of the wind speed w.

the force on a sail with area an area of 500 ft2 is 64. 8 pounds when the wind speed is 18 mph. what



would be the force for a sail with an area of 250 ft? with a wind speed of 35 mph.



how would you solve this problem? what would your answer be?



response:

Answer 1

122.5 lbs

Explanation:

The relation between force, wind speed, and area can be written ...

f = ks²a

for some wind speed s and area a.

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The constant of proportionality, k, can be found from the given data.

64.8 = k(18²)(500) . . . force in pounds, area in square feet, speed in mph

k = 64.8/(324×500) = 0.0004

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Using the equation with the second set of data, we have ...

f = 0.0004(35²)(250) = 122.5 . . . . pounds

The force on the 250 square foot sail would be 122.5 pounds.