Question

12-foot-long wooden beam is supported on both ends. When a weight load is placed in the center of the beam,it causes the beam to sag. The sag is called deflection. The graph shows the deflection of the beam,in inches, as a function of the weight load, in pounds, placed in the center of the beam. for every 50-pound increase in the weight load, what will be the change in the deflection?

Answer 1

the change in the deflection with every 100 pounds is,

$=\frac{0.5-0}{100-0}$$=\frac{0.5}{100}$

so for every 50 pounds will be,

$\begin{gathered} =(\frac{\frac{0.5}{100}}{2}) \\ =\frac{0.5}{200} \\ =0.0025 \end{gathered}$

so for every 50 pound increase in the weight, the change in the deflection is 0.25