A football coach sits on a sled while two of his players build their strength by dragging the sled

Question

A football coach sits on a sled while two of his players build their strength by dragging the sled across the field with ropes. The friction force on the sled is 1.2  and the angle between the two horizontal ropes is 13 °

How hard must each player pull to drag the coach at a steady 1.6 m/s

T= __________

Answer 1

Assuming that the two players are exerting the same force, the component in the direction of the sled's movement will be Tcos(13°/2) for each of them. In order for the sled to go at constant velocity, the net force must be 0. For equilibrium:

F_f = 2Tcos(13°/2) and T = F_f/(2cos(13°/2)

Good luck!