Question

You’re using a wedge to split a log. You are hitting the wedge with a large hammer to drive it into the log. It takes a force of 3000 N to push the wedge into the wood. The work you do on the wedge, pushing it into the log, is the work it does on the wood, separating its two halves. If the two halves of the log only separate by a distance of [Number 0.057] m while the wedge travels [Number 0.16] m into the log, how much force is the wedge exerting on the two halves of the log to rip them apart?

Answer 1

As work you do on the wedge, pushing it into the log, is the work it does on the wood, separating its two halves.

so $W_{you} = W_{wedge}$

work done by you = 3000 x 0.16 = 480 Nm

work done by wedge = F x 0.057

so F = 480/0.057 = 8421.05 N

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