How Do You Calculate the Force of a Falling Book on the Floor?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the force exerted by a falling book on the floor, with specific parameters provided such as the mass of the book, its velocities before and after hitting the floor, and the duration of contact with the floor.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss calculating the acceleration of the book upon impact and suggest using Newton's second law of motion. There is mention of impulse and the relationship between force and change in momentum. Some participants question the interpretation of the problem and the appropriate equations to apply.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants exploring different approaches to the problem. Some guidance has been offered regarding the use of impulse and momentum, though there is no explicit consensus on the best method to proceed.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working within the constraints of a homework problem, and there are indications of misinterpretation of the question by at least one participant. The conversation includes personal anecdotes unrelated to the problem itself.

drod
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a book falls off a bookshelf and hits the floor. given this info calculate the force of the book on the floor.
mass of the book 1.5kg the book touched the floor for .3 sec. the velocity of the book the moment the book hit the floor 3m/s.
the velocity of the book when it bounced off the floor 1m/s.
:cry:
 
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you need to calculate the accelration of the book when it hits the floor, ie if the book falls at 3m/s and is incontact with the floor for 0.3s then the acceleration is?(you work that one out) then use Newtons 2nd law of motion

and bobs your uncle

I think that is right

newo
 
You are dealing with an impulse question here. The eqn to use is,

Ft = Δp

F is the force providing the impulse,
t is the (small) duration of the impulse
Δp is the change in momentum
 
ahhhh yes i miss read the question sorry guys
 
No prob - feel free to help :smile:

Your solution would have worked, but, in essence it would simply condense down to using the impulse formula I posted.
 
sorry bit out of context but what part of the north east you from
im at loughborough university in my final year in physics

i hope to do a phd
 
I'm from Scotland originally, living in Newcastle. I've been to university 4 times, got two degress, one (ordinary) in Computer Science and one (Hons, 1st) in Maths. I started my Masters a while ago but gave up. I may go back to it soonish, via the OU. :smile:
 

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