A tugboat pulls a ship with a constant net horizontal force of #5.00 * 10^3# #N# and causes the ship to move through a harbor. How much work is done if the ship if it moves a distance of #3.00# #km#?

1 Answer
Nathan L.
Aug 19, 2017

#W = 1.5xx10^7# #"J"#

Explanation:

We're asked to find the work done by the tugboat on the ship, given the force it exerts and the distance it is pulled.

To do this, we can use the one-dimensional work equation:

#ul(W = Fs#

where

  • #W# is the work

  • #F# is the force

  • #s# is the displacement

We know:

  • #F = 5.00xx10^3# #"N"#

  • #s = 3.00# #"km"#

To find the work in joules, we need to convert the distace into meters, because in base SI units the joule contains the unit of meter, not kilometer:

#3.00# #"km"# #= 3000# #"m"#

So we have

#color(red)(W) = (5.00xx10^3color(white)(l)"N")(3000color(white)(l)"m") = color(red)(ulbar(|stackrel(" ")(" "1.5xx10^7color(white)(l)"J"" ")|)#

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