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 car and trailer have an acceleration of 1.20 ms-2. The engine of the car produces a constant horizontal driving force on the car of magnitude P NP\text{ N}P N.
Find the magnitude of the driving force produced by the engine.
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 280 N and the car and trailer decelerate. Given that the resistances to motion are unchanged, find the magnitude of the thrust in the towbar.
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.