Corkscrew:A Physics Problem

Anika Jäckel, Sherry Gu, and Jahnavi Singh

The ProblemWhen standing thirty meters away, the top of

the corkscrew is at an angle of 35° at an eye height of 172 centimetres

The train takes twenty seconds to reach the top.

Suppose the train weighs fifteen tonnes and the ride uses an engine with five hundred horse power to pull the train up.

What is the efficiency of the engine?

The Solutionh = dtanθ + h

eye height

h = (30) tan(35) + 1.72h = 21 + 1.72h = 22.7 m

Engine = 500 hp

t = 20s

m = 15 tonne

172cm

35°

30 m

h

Efficiency = Wo x 100%

WI

Efficiency = (15 000) (9.8) (22.7) x 100% (500) (746) (20)

Efficiency = 3 336 900 x 100% 7 460 000

Efficiency = 45%

The engine has an efficiency of 45%.

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