I understand, but I would still like to solve it according to the direction given in the problem. I'm not as interested in the answer as I am in the method that is being described in this case.
I've been going back through some of my old college texts and found this problem that I wanted to try to solve. The problem comes before any discussion of work, kinetic energy or potential energy. The problem itself provides tips that basically tell you how to solve it: write the n and t...
A block of mass m is positioned at the top of a quarter-circle ramp with radius R and friction coefficient μ. To find the velocity v at the bottom, I did the force summation equations in the n- and t-directions and came up with:
n: N - mgsinθ = mv^2/R
t: mgcosθ - μN = ma
I then solve for...