A sailboat moves north for a distance of 10.00 km when blown by a wind from the exact southeast with a force of 5.00 × 104 N. How much work was done by the wind?
(Points : 3)
0.00 J

3.54 × 105 J

3.54 × 108 J

5.00 × 108 J

Question

A sailboat moves north for a distance of 10.00 km when blown by a wind from the exact southeast with a force of 5.00 × 104 N. How much work was done by the wind?
(Points : 3)
       0.00 J

       3.54 × 105 J

       3.54 × 108 J

       5.00 × 108 J

anonymous · Answer

Only the component of the wind that's in the same direction as the sailboat's motion does work. Can you find that component?

anonymous · Answer

what do you mean?

anonymous · Answer

The problem says the wind is from the southeast and the sailboat travels north. You need to resolve the vector representing the wind into its north and west components. It's very helpful to draw a vector diagram of the situation.

anonymous · Answer

could you help me with that

anonymous · Answer

Sure. Draw a vector pointing exactly northwest. This vector will represent the wind (if it's from the southeast, that means it's headed toward the northwest).

anonymous · Answer

When I did it i got the answer 5.00 x 10^5 but i did not see that as a answer choice

anonymous · Answer

OK. Are you able to draw the vector representing the wind?

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1424057279780:dw|

anonymous · Answer

Great. Now, resolving a vector means to "break it down" into two components at right angles to one another, in this case, north ans west. You will use trigonometry to do this.|dw:1424057412990:dw|Do you know what the angles are in the drawing?