Free body diagrams for boxes, inclined planes and springs

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on analyzing free body diagrams for two objects, A and B, influenced by forces including weight, normal force, and spring force. It is established that the spring applies a force on object B, which is a reaction to the force exerted by object A, as per Newton's Third Law. The participants confirm that both objects experience gravitational forces and normal forces due to their surfaces. The correct approach involves incorporating the spring force into the equations to accurately calculate the forces acting on both objects.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of free body diagrams
  • Knowledge of Newton's Laws of Motion
  • Familiarity with forces such as weight, normal force, and elastic force
  • Basic principles of mechanics involving inclined planes and springs
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the application of Newton's Third Law in mechanical systems
  • Learn how to construct and analyze free body diagrams for multiple objects
  • Explore the effects of friction on inclined planes and spring systems
  • Investigate the mathematical modeling of spring forces in mechanical systems
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Students and educators in physics, mechanical engineers, and anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of forces in systems involving springs and inclined planes.

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Homework Statement
FIRST PICTURE
The body ##A## has a mass of ##6 kg##. It lies on the body ##B## which has a mass of ##14 kg##. There is no friction between these two bodies. Draw the free body diagram for both of them

SECOND PICTURE
A body ##A## of ##m=9.2 kg## slides down a body ##B## of ##m=17 kg##. ##B## doesn't move because of the force applied by the spring, which suffers a deformation of ##9 cm##. The friction between the two bodies is negligible. Draw the free body diagrams, determine the acceleration of ##A## with respect to ##B## and the elastic constant of the spring.
Relevant Equations
##W=m.g##
##W_x=m.sin(\alpha)##
##W_y=m.cos(\alpha)##
##F_e=-k \Delta x##
FIRST PICTURE
I have some doubts here because of the spring... I'll tell you what forces I've drawn. For ##A##, I drew the weight and the force applied by ##B## (the normal force) on the vertical axis; and the elastic force pointing to the right on the horizontal axis.
For ##B##, I drew the weight, the normal force and the force applied by ##A## on the vertical axis; on the horizontal axis I drew the force ##F## showed in the picture.
Is this correct? Because I don't know if the spring applies a force on ##B##, and in that case, I don't know what its direction would be.

SECOND PICTURE
For ##A##, if I take a coordinate system where the normal force is aligned with the vertical axis, I have the normal force and vertical component of the weight in the ##Y## axis and the horizontal component of the weight on the ##X## axis.
For ##B##, we have the normal force and the weight on the vertical axis; and the elastic force on the horizontal axis.

But I don't know what should I do with the data from ##B##, the spring doesn't affect ##A##, does it? Also, if there is no friction, shouldn't ##B## be moving to the left?
 

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I believe that your thinking for the first picture is correct. Obviously, gravity must be acting upon both of the objects, and likewise, since both ##A## and ##B## are resting on surfaces, they must be experiencing some normal force. Now, we know from the figure that ##F## is applied to ##B##, which causes a spring force on ##A##. Now, from Newton's Third Law, we know that if the spring pushes on ##A## then ##A## must push back on the spring, and since the spring is attached to ##B##, the spring must exert a force onto it.

For the second problem, since ##B## exerts a normal force on ##A##, then ##A## must exert an equal and opposite force on ##B##, so the deformation of the spring due to the force of ##B## is related to the force that ##A## exerts on ##B##. So if you include this new force in your equations, you should be able to use the data provided to calculate the desired values with those new equations.
 
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