Question

The steering wheel of a car has a radius of 0.19 m, and the steering wheel of a truck has a radius of 0.25 m. The same force is applied in the same direction to each steering wheel. What is the ratio of the torque produced by this force in the truck to the torque produced in the car

Answer 1

Answer:

$\frac{T_t}{T_c} = 1.32$

Explanation:

The torque applied on an object can be calculated by the following formula:

$T = Fr$

where,

T = Torque

F = Applied Force

r = radius of the wheel

For car wheel:

$T_c = Fr_c$

For truck wheel:

$T_t = Fr_t$

Dividing both:

$\frac{T_t}{T_c} = \frac{Fr_t}{Fr_c}$

for the same force applied on both wheels:

$\frac{T_t}{T_c} = \frac{r_t}{r_c}$

where,

rt = radius of the truck steering wheel = 0.25 m

rc = radius of the car steering wheel = 0.19 m

Therefore,

$\frac{T_t}{T_c} = \frac{0.25\ m}{0.19\ m}$

$\frac{T_t}{T_c} = 1.32$