2.4.42∗. The power of a car with an electric motor depends on the angular velocity of rotation of the wheels according to the law $(A-B\omega)\omega$. The vehicle's steady speed on a horizontal highway is $70$ km/hr. Without a load, it can overcome ascents with an angle of inclination of the highway up to $45^\circ$. What is the steady-state speed of the car when climbing with a highway slope of $30^\circ$? What kind of climbs can it overcome when the weight of the load is equal to the mass of the car?
Solution
If the wheels of the car roll without slipping, then $\omega$ varies directly with the speed $v$ of the car (in km/hr). Thus, the power of the motor can be expressed as $P(v)=(\alpha-\beta v)v$. (We can use an appropriate unit of force for the terms in parentheses and consequently an appropriate unit of power for $P$.) If air resistance is neglected, then the speed of the car being $70$ km/hr on a horizontal highway means that $P(70)=0$, and so $\alpha=70\beta$. Let
$$F(v)=P(v)/v=\beta(70-v)$$
denote the equivalent driving force that the motor gives to the car. The fact that the car can barely climb an inclination of $45^\circ$ means that $F(0)=W\sin45^\circ$, where $W$ is the weight of the car, and $W\sin45^\circ$ is the component of the weight of the car down the incline. It follows that $\beta=W/(70\sqrt2)$. To find the speed of the car going up an inclination of $30^\circ$, we solve for $v$ from the equation $F(v)=W\sin30^\circ$; that is,
which is approximately $20.5$ km/hr. To find the maximum inclination that the car with a load equal to its weight can climb, we solve for $\theta$ from the equation $F(0)=2W\sin\theta$; that is,