A vehicle is suspended 50m beneath a helicopter, it lifts the vehicle 1500kg at a vertical accn of 3.0ms^-2...

Question

...show that the tension in the cable is 1.9 x 10^4 N

I'd really like to know how to work out tension, every time i've tried the answer's wrong. Help please!!

Answer 1

There is a formula in your physics book for determining the cable's tension. Find it and use it.

Answer 2

The force acting on the vehicle is: T - 1500Kg(9.8m/sec**2) where 9.8m/sec**2 is the acceleration of gravity.
You are told the acceleration is upward at 3 m/sec**2 so

T - (1500)(9.8) = 1500 (3 m/sec**2) or T = 1500(3.0+9.8)
or T = 1500(12.8) = 19200 N QED