Calculating Distance Traveled on an Incline with Friction

  • Thread starter Thread starter ViewtifulBeau
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Friction Incline
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The problem involves calculating the distance a bundle will slide up an incline given its initial kinetic energy, the angle of the incline, and the coefficient of friction. The subject area pertains to mechanics, specifically the concepts of energy, forces, and motion on an inclined plane.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the relationship between kinetic energy and velocity, explore the forces acting on the bundle, and question the calculations involving friction and gravitational components. Some participants suggest using work-energy principles and resolving forces into components.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with various approaches being explored. Some participants have shared their calculations and methodologies, while others have raised questions about the assumptions made in the problem setup. There is no explicit consensus on the correct approach or solution yet.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working within the constraints of the problem as posed, including the given values for mass, kinetic energy, incline angle, and coefficient of friction. There is an acknowledgment of the need to consider the incline's angle in calculations.

ViewtifulBeau
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
A 0.64 kg bundle starts up a 10.08° incline with 61.7 J of kinetic energy. How far will it slide up the plane if the coefficient of friction is 0.373?

I found the frictional force and the force of gravity working against the bundle by f = N*u and F = ma to be 3.6026 and 1.09886. I added those two together and divided the Work (61.7 J) by the sum to get 13.12 by W=F*D. but 13.12 m is not right. thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The key to this one is that the 61.7 J of kinetic energy is just another way of stating what the initial velocity is. What's the relationship between velocity and kinetic energy?
Suggest you look at the 3rd item in the following link. It contains a sample incline plane problem (file Motion3b.pdf) using a simple methodology for solving it.
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=780118#post780118

EDIT: Since this is now an archive, can't post. I got the same answer as you for the initial velocity and between 18.0and 18.5m for the distance traveled. Here was the methodology I used (as described in the link):
- draw FBD and label the forces (component of mg in -x, friction force in -x)
- choose coordinate system with +x up the incline
- write F=ma in the x direction
- integrate once to get v(t) noting that v0 = velocity calculated from kinetic energy
- integrate agian to get x(t) noting that x0 = 0
- use v(t) to find t when the block stops (hint v = 0)
- use the t just calculated in the equation for x to find out how far it traveled
 
Last edited:
so i converted the KE to velocity and got 13.885 m/s then i found the acceleration by adding the f and F(gravity) then i used V^2 = 2a(change in x).
so 13.885^2/(2*7.346) and i got ...13.12 again!
 
Now I see what you are using (work-energy). You need to account for the angle of the incline. Using work-energy and accounting for the incline, I was able to obtain the same answer as my previous post.
 
Last edited:
try resolving force into components...
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
8K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
5K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 33 ·
2
Replies
33
Views
4K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
Replies
4
Views
3K
Replies
8
Views
4K
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
3K
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
6K