A man travels along a straight horizontal road carrying a block of mass 2 kg in his hand. If he covers a distance of 40 m with an acceleration of 0.5 m/s ^2 , determine the work done by the man on the block during the motion.

Step-by-step solution

Mass of the block, m = 2 kg Acceleration of the block, a = 0.5 m/s ^2 Displacement of the block, s = 40 m The force exerted by the man on the block has two components: a vertical component to balance the weight of the block and a horizontal component to provide the acceleration. The vertical force is F_y = mg . The work done by this force is zero because it is perpendicular to the horizontal displacement. The horizontal force is F_x = ma . The work done by this force is given by W = F_x s = mas . Substituting the g