Chapter 9, Problem 55PQ

Return to Example 9.9 and use the result to find the tension in the rope.

Example 9.9 Snow Tubing

At a winter recreation resort, snow tubers at the bottom of the hill hook their tubes to a tow rope. A motor pulls the rope so that tubers move at constant velocity to the top of the hill. (Ignore the momentary acceleration of the tuber when he first attaches his tube to the rope.) The coefficient of kinetic friction between the tube and the snow is μ_k = 0.16. A boy and his tube with a total weight of 415 N are pulled a distance of 255 m up the 18° incline (Fig. 9.29). Consider the Earth, the boy, his tube, and the snow along his path to make up the system. Find the energy transferred from the motor to the system via the work done by the rope.

FIGURE 9.29