This picture of a kalesa ride was taken in 2007 from my family's vacation in the Philippines. Introduced in the 18th century by the Spaniards, kalesas are horse-drawn carriages that once were popular modes of transportation, but now only survive in tourist spots and heavily influenced Spanish cities like Vigan where this picture was taken. As I was looking through the pictures in my computer, I came across this picture and I immediately connected the scenarios to the concepts learned in Chapter 7 about work and energy.
In this situation, a force is acting on the carriage that is moving in a straight line. The kalesa drive illustrates the simplest example of work in which force F is applied in the direction along displacement x. In this case, the W=Fx. However, when a non-conservative force like the friction between the carriage and the road is taken into account, the equation gets a little more complicated. The work equation then becomes W=-mg(μ)x.
In the case of energy, the equation below sums up what happens to the potential energy, kinetic energy, and the work done by friction.
In addition, the ropes connecting the horse to the carriage is very practical in that it minimizes the possibility of the horse tiring faster. The ropes are horizontally attached to the carriage, which means the force applied on the carriage by the horse is applied along the direction of motion contrary to when force F and displacement x form an angle theta. To produce the same total displacement and work with angle theta versus one with a 0 degrees angle, the force required must be increased, which requires more effort from the horse.
No comments:
Post a Comment