Force on a Slope: Solving for Acceleration

[Hisui]

[SOLVED] Force on a slope

"Franz is skiing in the Alps. He is racing down a steep slope of 50.0 degrees. For waxed skis on snow, we have mu sub k (for kinetic friction)=0.05. What is his acceleration?"

I'm so confused... don't I need his mass to even begin to approach this or am I missing something?

 

[learningphysics]

let m be the mass... get the acceleration in terms of m... (the m's will cancel out when you work out the acceleration).

What is the force acting on the skier along the slope in terms of m...

 

[Hisui]

Oh, right. Got it, thank you!