Question

A barge is hauled along a straight-line section of canal by two horses harnessed to tow ropes and walked along the tow paths on either side of the canal.Each horse pulls with a force of 513 N at an angle of 21° with the centerline of the canal. Find the net force on the barge, in kilonewtons.

Answer 1

Here we will have two components , perpendicular and parallel to the centerkine of the canal.

Components of the forces exerted by the two horses in direction perpendicular to the centerline of the canal will be equal in magnitude and opposite in direction and hence will cancel each other.

Component of each force along the centerline of the canal
= 513cos(21°)
As the same force is exerted by each horse, net resultant along the centerline of the canal
= 2 * 513cos(21°)

Net Force = 957.853 N = 0.957 Kilo Newtons