Rubber stopper hanging from the view view mirror of a car

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a rubber stopper suspended from a car's rear view mirror, with the scenario set in the context of the car's acceleration. The subject area relates to forces and motion, specifically examining the forces acting on the stopper as the car accelerates.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the forces acting on the rubber stopper, identifying gravity and tension as key components. There is exploration of the relationship between the angle of the string and the forces involved, as well as confusion regarding the relevance of the string's length in the context of force magnitude.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants clarifying the forces at play and addressing misunderstandings about the problem setup. Guidance has been offered regarding the analysis of forces, while multiple interpretations of the information provided are being explored.

Contextual Notes

Participants note confusion regarding the significance of the string's length in relation to the forces, indicating a potential area of misunderstanding in the problem's constraints.

shawli
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Homework Statement



A 18g rubber stopper is suspended by a 45-cm string from the rear view mirror of a car. As the car accelerates eastward, the string makes an angle of 5.1 degrees with the vertical. Determine the acceleration of the car.


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



I'm totally stumped. There are no forces or anything given, not even sure what the diagram should look like : |. Help !
 
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What forces act on the stopper?
 
Gravity?
And it's positioned at an angle because of inertia ? I don't think that can be drawn out as a force though.
 
Yes, gravity is one of the two forces acting on the stopper. What's the other? (What's attached to the stopper?)
 
Oh right, tension !

So, from the rubber stopper, a force point outward diagonally (along the string) is the force of tension.
And a force pointing directly downwards is gravity?
 
shawli said:
So, from the rubber stopper, a force point outward diagonally (along the string) is the force of tension.
And a force pointing directly downwards is gravity?
Exactly!
 
Oh okay! One more thing --the length of the string is given. I get confused when questions about the magnitude of forces give me the length or distance of something. I'm not sure what I can do with that?
 
Just analyze the forces as you normally would. Ignore any extraneous information given.
 

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