Confirm My Suspicions: Calculating Velocity on an Incline Plane

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the velocity of a washer rolling down an incline plane set at an angle of 10°. The original poster presents a scenario involving the washer's motion, including calculations for velocity at specific distances and the implications of those velocities for determining reject spots based on camera processing time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the final velocity of the washer after rolling down 2 inches, questioning whether the distance should be interpreted as the height of the incline instead. Some participants inquire about the nature of the motion (rolling vs. sliding) and the implications of friction in the calculations. Others suggest considering rotational dynamics and the moment of inertia of the washer in their calculations.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants exploring different interpretations of the problem and offering various approaches to the calculations. There is no explicit consensus on the correct method, but several lines of reasoning are being examined, particularly regarding the effects of rolling motion and the associated forces.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating assumptions about the nature of the washer's motion, the effects of friction, and the geometry of the incline. The original poster's calculations are based on a frictionless model, which is being questioned by others in the thread.

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Here's my scenario...I ran these calculations and I feel they are off due to my velocity values.

I have a washer rolling down an incline plane set at 10°.
The Length of the Plane is still unknown.
Starting at rest, determine the velocity at 2". At this distance a camera with take a snapshot and determine whether it's a good part or bad part. The camera takes 0.6 seconds to process the image.
If it's a Bad Part, it will be rejected from the slide(0.6sec later). Determine how far down the incline the washer will be, to know where to reject the washer.
If it's a Good Part, it will continue down the slide where it will checked by another camera, a distance of 2.25" from the first reject spot determined above.
Determine how far down the second reject spot would be on the incline.
Determine the overall length the incline would need to be to complete the mentioned process.

What I know...
Vi = 0.0
Angle = 10°
Frictionless plane.
Constant Acceleration
d1 = 2"
t(camera processing) = 0.6 seconds

Vf^2 = Vi^2 + 2(g*sin(θ)) d1

Plugging in the known values I came up with...

Vf^2 = 0 + 2(385.8in/s^2 * sin(10°))(2")

Yielding me with a result of Vf1 = (16.369in/s).

Over a distance of 2 inches, this velocity seems way too fast. Should d1 actually be the height of the triangle created by using 2" as the hypotenuse and Sin(10°)? Resulting in a new value of Vf1 = (6.819 in/s).



For the Second part of my calculations, I have to determine it's distance based off the velocity and time known. To determine position with no final velocity I used the equation

X = Vi(t)+(0.5)a*t^2

With the Velocity of 16.369in/s and the time value, I calculated a reject distance at 21.88" down the ramp. And repeated the same method of calculations to get the second reject distance and overall length. Can someone confirm my suspicions?
 
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Do you really mean "rolling down an incline" or is just sliding?
If it's just sliding on a frictionless plane, the speed after 2" seems about right. (I get about 11.5 in/s).
 
Yes, I mean rolling.
 
I just realized that I have to account for the force of gravity center of mass and rotational acceleration of a disk along with friction.

Vf = √(Vi^2+2(g*sin(θ)/1+I/mr^2)d1)

I (in this case: Disk) = 1/2m*r^2

so,

Vf = √(Vi^2+2((2/3)g*sin(θ))L)
 
If it's rolling you don't mean frictionless.
Since it's a washer, there'll be a hole in the disc, no? If the internal and external radii are A, B then the M.I. is m(B^2+A^2)/2.
Not sure why you concern yourself with the velocities. Don't you just want to know the times to various distances?
Force down plane = mg.sin(θ) = m.a + [m(B^2+A^2)/2].a/B^2
a = 2g.sin(θ) /[3 + A^2/B^2]
where a is the linear accn.
Then solve 2s = at^2 for the various s.
 

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