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What is the work done by a horse that exerts an applied force of 100 N on a sleigh, if the harness makes an angle of 30° with the ground, and the sleigh moves 30 m across a flat level ice surface?

Answer 1

Nathan Ashcroft

I get approximately #2598.1# joules.

The formula yields the amount of work done.

#W=F*d*costheta#

where:

#W# is the work done in joules

#F# is the force in newtons

#d# is the distance moved in meters

#theta# is the angle of incline in degrees

Thus, we obtain:

#W=100 \ "N"*30 \ "m"*cos 30^@#

#=3000 \ "N m"*sqrt3/2#

#=1500sqrt3 \ "N m"#

#~~2598.1 \ "N m"#

#=2598.1 \ "J" \ (because 1 \ "J"=1 \ "N m")#

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Answer 2

Parker Abbott

The work done by the horse is 3000 joules.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.