Question

train engine of mass 4500 kg is connected by a rope to boxcar A. Boxcar A is connected by a second rope to boxcar B, which is connected by a third rope to boxcar C. All boxcars have the same mass, 1500 kg. The whole train is sitting on a flat railroad track. The train engineer starts the train engine moving so that the tension in the first rope, between the locomotive and boxcar A, is 4000 N. How fast is the whole train accelerating

Answer 1

The acceleration is
`a = 0.889 \ m/s^2`

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question we are told that

The mass of the engine is
`m = 4500 \ kg`

The mass of each Boxcar is
`m_b = 1500 \ kg`

The tension between the locomotive and boxcar A is
`T = 4000 \ N`

Generally the tension between the locomotive and boxcar A is equivalent to the net force propelling the box cars so the tension is mathematically represented as

`T = F = M* a`

Here M is the mass of the three box cars

=>
`4000=  (3 * 1500)* a`

=>
`a =  0.889 \  m/s^2`