An overnight rainstorm has caused a major roadblock. Three massive rocks of mass

Question

An overnight rainstorm has caused a major roadblock. Three massive rocks of mass m1 = 514 kg, m2 = 838 kg and m3 = 322 kg have blocked a busy road. The rocks are side by side blocking the road and lined up from left to right in order as m1, m2 and m3. The city calls a local contractor to use a bulldozer to clear the road. The bulldozer applies a constant force to m1 to slide the rocks off the road. Assuming the road is a flat frictionless surface and the rocks are all in contact, what force, FA, must be applied to m1 to slowly accelerate the group of rocks from the road at 0.400 m/s2? Use the value found above for FA to find the force, F12, exerted by the first rock of mass 514 kg on the middle rock of 838 kg.

Explanation / Answer

The rocks are all in contact, so the total mass m = 514 + 838 + 322 = 1674 kg

From Newton's Second Law, force = mass * acceleration
Fa = 1674 * 0.400 = 669.6 N

The force required to accelerate the first rock on its own to 0.400 m/s

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