Two persons manage to push a motorcar of mass 1200kg at a uniform velocity along a level road. The same motorcar can be pushed by three persons to produce an acceleration of 0.2ms⁻². With what force does each person push the motorcar?
Solution:
Given : Mass of the motorcar M = 1200kg Acceleration of motor car a = 0.2ms⁻² Total external force acting on the car by the three persons, FT = Ma FT = 1200 × 0.2 = 240 N Thus force applied by each person, f = FT/3 = 240/3 = 80 N