Question

Based on the information in Table 5.1, estimate

a. The weight of a laptop computer.

b. The propulsion force of a bicycle.

Short answer

Weight of an object is defined as the force due to its mass and the acceleration due to gravity.

Step-by-step solution

Given information  and Calculating the weight of the laptop computer:

The computer has its mass as well as the acceleration due to gravity.

The formula to calculate the weight is given by $W=mg$

The value of mass of computer is 5 lb.

Therefore, the weight would be 5lbf. (Here 1 lbf is taken as 5N)

According to the table 5.1, the weight is 25 N.

Since the given involves error which is large in value, we considerably take the value 1 lbf is approximated to 4.45 N.

Therefor the weight of typical laptop is 22.25 N.

Calculate the propulsion force of a bicycle:

The force is defined as the product of its mass and acceleration.

The propulsion force is not due to the bicycle but due to the rider 's force that allows the bicycle to move.

Consider the mass of the rider and the bicycle is 100 kg.

Consider the acceleration of the bicycle be 0.2 m/s².

Then the propulsion force is calculated as:

$$\begin{gathered} F=100kg\times 0.2m/s^2 \\ =50N \end{gathered}$$

Therefore, the propulsion force of a bicycle is 50 N.