Push Mower Force (Physics)

Question

An environmentally conscious physics student mows her lawn with a push mower, exerting a force of 187 N along the handle. How much force is actually being used to push the mower forward along the ground?

The angle above the handle of the mower is 42.0 degrees

Answer 1

The physics student applies 187 N of force along the handle, so we infer that the student's net force vector is pointing in the same direction as the handle: towards the mower at 42 degrees relative to the ground.

Since pushing the mower along the ground requires horizontal force, all we have to find is the horizontal component of the force vector:

F_x = Fcos(θ) = 187N×cos42 = 138.97 N (rounded to the nearest hundredth of a Newton).

This is how much force is used to push the mower.