A car of mass 750 kg pulls a trailer of mass 300 kg along a straight horizontal road using a light towbar which is parallel to the road. The horizontal resistances to motion of the car and the trailer have magnitudes 250 N and 100 N respectively. The engine of the car produces a constant horizontal driving force on the car of magnitude 1600 N.
Find the acceleration of the car and trailer.
Find the magnitude of the tension in the towbar.
The car is moving along the road when the driver sees a hazard ahead. He reduces the force produced by the engine to zero and applies the brakes. The brakes produce a force on the car of magnitude F F\,F newtons and the car and trailer decelerate. Given that the resistances to motion are unchanged and the magnitude of the thrust in the towbar is k Nk\text{ N}k N, find the value of F F\,F in terms of kkk.
182 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Maths Forces and Motion, covering 10.1 Force Diagrams, 10.2 Forces as Vectors, 10.3 Forces and Acceleration, 10.4 Motion in 2 Dimensions, 10.5 Connected Particles, and 10.6 Pulleys. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.