How Do You Calculate Acceleration with Friction Forces Involved?

[StaticShock]

I am not getting forces at all. I 'm not sure of what to do. Here's the question:

A box is resting on a flat surface. The box has a mass of 20KG and a force of 200N is pushing the box to the right. The force of friction acting on the box is 100 N to the left. What is the acceleration of the box?

I know that the sum of the forces=Mass X Acceleration. But I am not sure what numbers to put in.

 

[Chi Meson]

Consider the forces that act along the line of motion (left-right forces that is , the box is not moving up or down is it?). Call forces to the right "positive. Call forces to the left "negative." What is the sum of all the left-right forces? (Hint: it involves a little mathematical trick called "subtraction.")

 

[quicknote]

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out for help with your friction problem. I can see that you have correctly identified the equation for calculating acceleration using force and mass. To solve this problem, we need to first draw a free body diagram to visualize the forces acting on the box.

In this case, we have a force of 200N pushing the box to the right, and a force of 100N acting in the opposite direction due to friction. We also know that the box has a mass of 20KG.

To find the acceleration, we can plug these values into the equation you mentioned:

Sum of forces = Mass x Acceleration

In this case, the sum of forces is 200N - 100N = 100N (since the force of friction is acting in the opposite direction).

So, we have:

100N = 20KG x Acceleration

To solve for acceleration, we can divide both sides by 20KG:

100N/20KG = Acceleration

Acceleration = 5 m/s^2

Therefore, the acceleration of the box is 5 m/s^2.

I hope this helps you understand how to approach friction problems. If you have any further questions or need additional help, don't hesitate to ask. Keep up the good work with your studies!

Best,