Calculating Acceleration on a Sloped Surface

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The problem involves calculating the acceleration of a person on skis descending a hill with a specified slope and friction coefficient. The subject area is dynamics, specifically focusing on forces acting on an object on an inclined plane.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants suggest starting with a free body diagram to identify the forces at play. There is an emphasis on understanding Newton's second law and resolving forces in relation to the slope.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the original poster, offering guidance on how to approach the problem through diagramming and force analysis. The discussion is ongoing, with the original poster indicating they will provide further input based on their progress.

Contextual Notes

The original poster expresses uncertainty about where to begin and mentions difficulty finding relevant information in their textbook. There are no explicit constraints noted beyond the homework context.

jnalli121
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
hey guys, I am having trouble on 1 problem on my physics homework and was wondering if someone can help me and get me started.

Homework Statement


A 63-kg person on skis is going down a hill sloped at 30° from the horizontal. The coefficient of friction between the skis and the snow is 0.19. What would be the magnitude of the acceleration?

i have no idea where to start, looked all around my physics book but can't seem to find anything, any help would be great. thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Start by drawing a free body diagram. What forces are present? Do you know Newton's second law? That MUST be in your textbook somewhere. Show us what you come up with.
 
Hi,

First: draw a diagram of the scene.
Second: mark on all the forces using arrows
Third resolve the forces either horizontally and vertically OR parallel and perpendicular to the slope

Hope that gets you started.

Cheers
 
thanks for the quick reply, ill work on it and post my result in a bit
 

Similar threads

Relation between Friction, Velocity, and Acceleration
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
2K
How to calculate the kinematics of an object pushed up an inclinex plane?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
What are the units for the slope in an Acceleration vs Mass Graph?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
How to Solve Acceleration of Cart on 3 Different Slopes?
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
Speed skier travelling up a hill
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
4K
Finding an expression for acceleration
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
How Do You Calculate Skier's Mass and Acceleration with Newton's Second Law?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Dynamics Skier on a Slope Problem
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
5K
Forces on skier: slope friction and wind
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
6K
Having a hard time learning Newton's 2nd law
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K