In the winter sport of curling, players give a 20 kg stone a push across a sheet of ice. A curler accelerates a stone to a speed of 3.0 m/s over a time of 2 s.

Question

In the winter sport of curling, players give a 20 kg stone a push across a sheet of ice. A curler accelerates a stone to a speed of 3.0 m/s over a time of 2 s.
a)How much force does the curler exert on the stone?
b)What average power does the curler use to bring the stone up to speed?

drwls · Answer

The acceleration rate while pushing is 3.0/2 = 1.5 m/s^2

The force required to accelerate the stone at that rate is F = M*a = 30 N.

This assumes zero ice friction resistance. That is a fairly good assumption, since they travel so far.

Average power = (kinetic energy added)/(2 seconds)
= (M/2)Vfinal^2/Time = 45 watts