Question

A paper airplane flies from positionto. The net force acting on it during this flight, due to the Earth and the air, is nearly constant at.What is the total work done on paper airplane by the Earth and the air?

Short answer

Total work done on the paper airplane by the Earth and the air is $1.4Nm$.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of the work done on the paper

Work is the force times the displacement of the item and is the quantity of energy transferred between a source of applied force and the object that this force affects.

The work done as a result of the force is given by:

$W=\stackrel{\rightharpoonup }{F}∆\stackrel{\rightharpoonup }{r}cos\theta$

Here, F is the force, and$∆r$is the displacement, and$\theta$is the angle.

Determine Work’s scalar product

The applied force and displacement have the same angle$0°$, indicating that both elements move in the same direction.

Substitute$\theta =0°$ into the formula of work done.

$$\begin{gathered} W=F∆r\cos 0° \\ =F∆r \end{gathered}$$

Finding displacement

The paper shifts its position. So, the displacement is given by:

$∆r=r_1=r_i$

Substitute the initial and the final position vector into the above formula to find the displacement.

Finding work done

Substitute and into$W=F∆r$ to find work done.

Hence, the total work done on the paper airplane by the Earth and the air is$1.4Nm.$