Question

A person decides to push a 16 kg frictionless cart with a force of 40 N when the cart is at rest. a.) In theory, how long will it take to push the cart 100m? b.) In theory, how fast would the cart be going at the 100m? at 50m? c.) Make a graph of power vs position for this constant acceleration situation. d.) Is this theoretical graph physically reasonable? Discuss in terms of velocity and power

Answer 1

(a) The constant acceleration of the cart will be a = F/m = 40/16 m/s² = 2.5 m/s². Then from kinematic equation, , you can obtain the time t to move the cart a distance s of 100 m.

(b) The speed can be calculated from the kinematic equation, ,

For s = 100 m,

For s = 50 m,

(c) The power is expressed as

(d) The graph is theoretically reasonable and it is a parabola.