Magnitude of acceleration of a block of mass

AI Thread Summary
To find the magnitude of acceleration for a 7.0 kg block pulled by a 37.0 N force at a 34.1° angle, the horizontal component of the force must be calculated first. The horizontal force is determined using the cosine of the angle, resulting in a force that can be used in the equation F=ma to find acceleration. The normal force can be calculated by considering the vertical forces, which include the weight of the block and the vertical component of the pulling force. The vertical component is found using the sine of the angle. Understanding the separation of forces into horizontal and vertical components is crucial for solving these types of problems.
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A block of mass 7.0 kg is pulled along a horizontal frictionless floor by a cord that exerts a force of 37.0 N at an angle 34.1° above the horizontal. What is the magnitude of the acceleration of the block?
What is the magnitude of the normal force exerted on the mass by the floor?

I've been having trouble with these kind of problems. The equations in my book aren't very well explained, basically the book doesn't explain where these equations are coming from. This is the main reason why I'm having a hard time with these kind of problems. Anyway for the first question I thought that F=ma so I plugged in mass and the force to get acceleration, but I believe that is wrong. Any help as to what equations I need to use maybe with explanations would be a great help.
 
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Since the block only moves horizontally (the forces in the vertical direction will add to zero) you need to use the horizontal component of the force on the block to find its acceleration.
 
Ok but once you have the acceleration, how do you find the magnitude of it? Sorry for necroing this, but I have the same exact question. Magnitude of acceleration? Have no clue how to find that.
 
Vector quantities, such as acceleration, have both magnitude (an amount) and direction. Here they just want the magnitude, so forget about direction.
 
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