What are the physics involved in tractor pulling a sled?

Answer 1

When a tractor is pulling a sled there is the mass and gravity of both the tractor and sled slowing it down. There is also tension in the rope pulling the sled. whenever physics is involved to solve a force there is usually a frictional force acting on the objects. The formula to use is F=ma. The total mass is the mass of the objects put together and the total force is the force that the tractor is pulling at minus mg (mass x gravity) and minus the frictional force. The tension (T) is calculated using the formula T=W+ma (W=mgh), using only the mass of the sled.