The average newborn blue whale has a mass of 3.00 x 103 kg. Suppose the whale becomes stranded on the shore and a team of rescuers tries to pull it back to sea. The rescuers attach a cable to the whale and pull it at an angle of 20.0˚ above the horizontal with a force of 4.00 x 103 N. There is, however, a horizontal force opposing the motion (friction) that is 12.0 percent of the whale’s weight. Calculate the net acceleration of the whale during the rescue pull.

Question

The average newborn blue whale has a mass of 3.00 x 103 kg.  Suppose the whale becomes stranded on the shore and a team of rescuers tries to pull it back to sea.  The rescuers attach a cable to the whale and pull it at an angle of 20.0˚ above the horizontal with a force of 4.00 x 103 N.  There is, however, a horizontal force opposing the motion (friction) that is 12.0 percent of the whale’s weight.  Calculate the net acceleration of the whale during the rescue pull.