Two persons manage to push a motorcar of mass 1,200 kg at a uniform velocity along a level road. The same motorcar can be pushed by three persons to produce an acceleration of 0.2 ms–2. With what force does each person push the motorcar? (Hint : All persons push the motorcar with same muscular effort.)
Here,
Mass of the motor-car, m = 1200 kg
Acceleration, a = 0.2 s-1.
Clearly, the unbalanced force is exerted when the third person applies the force.
Therefore,
Force applied by the third person = ma
= 1200 x 0.2
= 240 N
As all the three persons push the motorcar with the same muscular effort, force exerted by each person = 240 N.
