Horizontal force with a crate at a 27 degree angle

[bearhug]

A 100 kg crate is pushed at constant speed up the frictionless 27° ramp shown in the figure. What horizontal force F is required?
What force is exerted by the ramp on the crate?

I can't paste the figure up so I hope this question describes the scenario well enough.

What's giving me problems is how am I suppose to find F when I don't even know n? I figured I use the angle to help solve for others. I know Fg=mg which is (100)(9.8) right? Would that give me one side of the triangle?

 

[Brickster]

The problem says at a constant speed, therefore a=0. Also, there is no friction slowing you down. F=ma, a=0, so the net force is zero. You need to find the vertical and horizontal components of the applied force. So F(applied)*cos(27)=F(applied,horizontal), and F(applied)*sin(27)=F(applied, Vertical).

That should get you off to a good start, remember you don't know F(applied), so you'll have to solve for two variables (substitution in otherwords).

 

[bearhug]

I'm still confused. First of all did you post a figure cause it's not showing up. I understand that I need to use substitution to solve for one and then solve for the other but I still feel like I don't have enough information. This is what I have down:

Xcomponent
∑Fx= max
mgsin27 = ma
a=gsin27

Ycomponent
∑Fy= may
N-mgcos27= 0
N= mgcos27

Is this at all right?

 

[radou]

In the y-sum you forgot to add F, so you have mgcos27 + Fsin27 = N.

 

[Doc Al]

A 100 kg crate is pushed at constant speed up the frictionless 27° ramp shown in the figure. What horizontal force F is required?

Is the applied force horizontal? or parallel to the ramp?