2 Problems: 1 friction 1 uniform acceleration

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SUMMARY

The discussion addresses two physics problems involving forces and acceleration. The first problem calculates the force exerted by a Cheerios box on a Wheaties box, given frictional forces of 2.0 N and 4.0 N, respectively, and a total applied force of 12.0 N. The user concludes that the force on the Wheaties box from the Cheerios box is 26 Newtons, which they question as potentially too high. The second problem involves a streetcar rounding a corner with a radius of 9.1 m at a speed of 16 km/h, focusing on the angle of hanging hand straps due to horizontal acceleration.

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  • Understanding of Newton's laws of motion
  • Basic concepts of frictional force
  • Knowledge of acceleration and its calculation
  • Familiarity with circular motion dynamics
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  • Review Newton's second law and its application in force calculations
  • Study frictional force concepts, particularly static and kinetic friction
  • Learn about circular motion and the forces acting on objects in motion
  • Explore the relationship between acceleration and tension in hanging objects
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Weather Freak
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Hey folks,

If someone can take a look at these two homework problems and help me out, it'd be greatly appreciated.

1) A box of Cheerios and a box of Wheaties are accerelated across a horizontal surface by a horizontal force F applied to the Cheerios box. The magnitude of the frictional force on the Cheerios box is 2.0 N and the magnitude of the frictional force on the Wheaties box is 4.0 N. If the magnitude of F is 12.0 N, what is the magnitude of the force on the Wheaties box from the Cheerios box?

The Cheerios box is 1.0 kg and the Wheaties box is 3.0 kg.

The first thing I did was come up with all the forces on the boxes:

Wheaties Box:
[tex] \Sigma F_{x} = F_{c}-F_{fric, w} = m_{w}a[/tex]
[tex]\Sigma F_{y} = N_{w}-m_{w}g = 0[/tex]

Cheerios Box:
[tex] \Sigma F_{x} = F-F_{fric, c} = m_{c}a[/tex]
[tex]\Sigma F_{y} = N_{c}-m_{c}g = 0[/tex]

Then I used the first equation to solve for [tex]F_{c}[/tex]. I got: [tex]F_{c}=m_{w}a - F_{fric, w}[/tex].

I then plugged in for the acceleration (using the 3rd equation) and my final answer is: 26 Newtons. Does that sound right to anyone? It seems a bit high which is why I ask.

2) An old street car rounds a corner of radius 9.1 m, at 16 km/h. What angle from the vertical will be made by the loosely hanging hand straps?

I didn't get far enough with this one to do much work, but my initial thought is that there is some kind of force acting in the horizontal direction that would push the hand straps. I'm not sure what it is or where else to begin with this.

Thanks a bunch!
 
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If C pushes on B , doesn't B push back on C ?

The hand strap is connected to the street car
at the ceiling. The street car is accelerating.
sideways.
 
lightgrav said:
If C pushes on B , doesn't B push back on C ?

The hand strap is connected to the street car
at the ceiling. The street car is accelerating.
sideways.

So does that mean that there should be an extra force on the Cheerios box, from the Wheaties box, in the opposing (same as friction) direction?
 

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