Question

A helicopter flies over the arctic ice pack at a constant altitude, towing an airborne 130-kg laser sensor that measures the thickness of the ice (see the drawing). The helicopter and the sensor both move only in the horizontal direction and have a horizontal acceleration of magnitude 2.57 m/s2. Ignoring air resistance, find the tension in the cable towing the sensor.

Answer 1

Answer:T=1316.21 N

Explanation:

The tension has two components: Vertical and Horizontal. The

horizontal component is ma, the vertical component is mg. Using

Pythagoras theorem, we can find the tension as:

T=((ma)^2 (mg)^2)^(1/2)

So

T=((129*2.84)^2 (129*9.8)^2)^(1/2)

T=1316.21 N