Newton's Laws of Motion PROBLEM

[stevie_char99]

[SOLVED] Newton's Laws of Motion PROBLEM!

A gardener pushes down along the handle of a lawn mower of 20 kg mass with a force of 150 N. The handle makes an angle of 60 degrees with the ground. Calculate the horizontal acceleration of the mower if the coefficient of kinetic friction between its wheels and the gound is 0.20.


Attempt:
I've gotten this equation so far but I'm confused on what to do next!

Fn = mg + FaSin$$\theta$$

= 20(9.8) + 150sin60

Fn = 326 N <---?

 

[HallsofIvy]

Fn is, I presume, the component of force normal to the ground. You calculated that in order to be able to find the friction force didn't you? The friction force is the coefficient of kinetic friction (0.20) multiplied by Fn. You will also want to find the component of foce parallel to the ground. That, minus the friction force, you put into "F= ma"

 

[ogb p]

RESPONSE:
According to Newton's Second Law of Motion, the net force acting on an object is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration (F=ma). In this case, the net force acting on the lawn mower is the sum of the applied force (150 N) and the force of friction (Ff). We can set up the equation as follows:

Fnet = Fa + Ff = ma

Using the given information, we can substitute the known values into the equation:

150 N + (0.20)(20 kg)(9.8 m/s^2) = (20 kg)a

Solving for a, we get a horizontal acceleration of 0.15 m/s^2. This means that the lawn mower will accelerate horizontally at a rate of 0.15 m/s^2.