A body is pulled on a horizontal surface with a rope inclined at 30º to the vertical. If the effective force pulling the body along the horizontal surface i...
A body is pulled on a horizontal surface with a rope inclined at 30º to the vertical. If the effective force pulling the body along the horizontal surface is 15N, calculate the tension on the rope.
Answer Details
In this problem, the tension in the rope results in a force that acts to pull the body along the horizontal surface. The rope is inclined at 30º to the vertical, which means it makes an angle of 60º with the horizontal since the total angle between vertical and horizontal is 90º.
To find the tension in the rope, we first understand that the component of the tension force acting along the horizontal surface is given by the formula:
F_horizontal = Tension * cos(θ)
Where:
F_horizontal is the effective force pulling the body along the horizontal, given as 15N.
Tension is the total tension in the rope that we need to find.
θ is the angle of inclination with respect to horizontal = 60º (since the rope is 30º to the vertical, it's 60º to the horizontal).
Given that F_horizontal = 15N, we substitute into the equation:
15N = Tension * cos(60º)
We know that cos(60º) = 0.5, therefore:
15N = Tension * 0.5
To find the Tension, divide both sides of the equation by 0.5: