Suppose that a large cargo truck needs to cross a bridge, The truck is 30 m long and 3.2 m wide. The cargo exerts a force or 54.000 N The bridge can only withstand 450 Pa of pressure. Is it safe for the truck to cross the bridge?

1 Answer
May 23, 2017

I think not (the force is #54,000N#, isn't it?)

Explanation:

We can evaluate the pressure exerted by the truck as:

#"Pressure"="Force"/"area"

#"Pressure"=(54,000)/(30×3.2)=562.5Pa#

That is higher than the pressure the bridge can withstand.