MATH 1520 A.

02: THE WEIGHTY CHAIN

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OBJECTIVE:
In this activity you will study the relative amounts of work required to lift a heavy chain.
PREPARATION:
You will be using the procedure outlined in section 6.4 for calculating the work required to lift a
chain (or rope, or cable, etc) You should review section 6.4, especially example 4 and problems
13 through 18. You can also review the Web Assign homework assignment from section 6.4.

STEPS:
In the problems below, a chain hangs down a deep well and you need to calculate the work required
to lift the chain or a portion of the chain to the top of the well. Remember to include the appropriate
units and your computations and answers.

1. Base Case. You will compare other amounts of work to this initial case. For this initial case show
your integral and include all your steps.
Calculate the work required to lift a 120 foot, 60 pound chain to the top of the well.

MATH 1520 A.02: THE WEIGHTY CHAIN
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2. Dependence on Weight. Now you will determine how the work depends on the weight of the chain.
For parts (a) and (b) you only need to report your final answers.
a) Calculate the work required for a 120 foot chain that weighs 120 pounds.


b) Calculate the work required for a 120 foot chain that weighs 30 pounds.


c) Summarize the results above as a statement about how the work required depends on the weight.






3. Dependence on Length. Now you will determine how the work depends on the length of the chain.
For parts (a) and (b) you only need to report your final answers.
a) Calculate the work required for a 240 foot chain that weighs 60 pounds.


b) Calculate the work required for a 60 foot chain that weighs 60 pounds.


c) Summarize the results above as a statement about how the work required depends on the length.

MATH 1520 A.02: THE WEIGHTY CHAIN
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4. Lifting Part of the Chain. Now you will determine how the work varies if you only lift part of the
chain. For each case, describe the steps of your computation.
a) Calculate the work required to lift one half of a 120 foot 60 pound chain.














b) Calculate the work required to lift one third of a 120 foot 60 pound chain.

MATH 1520 A.02: THE WEIGHTY CHAIN
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c) Summarize the results above as a statement about how the work required depends on the fraction
of the chain that is pulled up. You may need to calculate the work for additional fractions of the
chain. Hint: Consider the ratio of the work required for a fraction of the chain to the work
required for the entire chain.