A certain cable of an elevator is designed to exert a force of 4.5x 104 N. If the maximum acceleration that a loaded car can withstand is 3.5 m/s2 (the current fastest elevators in the world undergo an acceleration of less than 3.2 m/s2), what is the combined mass of the car and its contents?

Question

Physics

Sylvia Howard

2 October, 18:15

A certain cable of an elevator is designed to exert a force of 4.5x 104 N. If the maximum acceleration that a loaded car can withstand is 3.5 m/s2 (the current fastest elevators in the world undergo an acceleration of less than 3.2 m/s2), what is the combined mass of the car and its contents?

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Answers (1)

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Nigel Cain · Answer 1

Answer: 3,383.5 kg

Explanation:

from the question we were given the following

tension (T) = 4.5 x 10^4 N

maximum acceleration (a) = 3.5 m/s^2

acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.8 m/s^2 (it's a constant value)

mass of the car and its contents (m) = ?

we can get the mass of the car and it's contents from the formula for tension which is T = ma + mg

T = m (a + g)

therefore m = T / (a+g)

m = (4.5 x 10^4 / (3.5 + 9.8)

m = 3,383.5 kg