The Physics of Braking: Calculating Force Applied on a Moving Truck

How can we calculate the amount of force extracted by the brakes on a moving truck?

Given data: the truck is moving with a velocity of 90 km/h, the truck takes 5 seconds to stop, and the mass of the truck along with the cage is 1500 kg.

Calculation of Force Applied on the Truck by the Brakes:

The force applied on the truck by the brakes is -7500 N.

Exploration of the force applied on a moving truck involves the principles of physics, specifically Newton's second law of motion which states that Force equals mass times acceleration (F=ma).

In this scenario, we are dealing with the deceleration of the truck. Deceleration, or negative acceleration, is calculated as the change in velocity divided by the time taken.

The initial velocity of the truck is 90 km/h, which converts to 25 m/s (since 1 km/h is approximately 0.278 m/s). The final velocity when the truck stops is 0 m/s. Therefore, the deceleration is calculated as (0 - 25) / 5 = -5 m/s².

With the known mass of the truck and the calculated deceleration, the force applied by the brakes can be determined using Newton's second law: F = m * a. Substituting the values (1500 kg for mass and -5 m/s² for deceleration), the force is calculated as -7500 N (the negative sign indicating force in the opposite direction).

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