Skier on a Slope - Find Total Distance

[erok81]

Homework Statement

Starting from rest, a 75 kg skier slides down a 17.0 º slope. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the skis and snow is
0.120 and it takes 28.2 s to get to the bottom, how long is the ski trail?

Homework Equations

F = ma
s_f = s_i +v_i + 1/2at^2

The Attempt at a Solution

I drew a diagram and came up with this:

The acceleration of the skier down the slope is mgsin(17) the friction going the opposite direction is mgsin(17)0.120.

F_net is mgsin(17)-mgsin(17)0.120

Taking F=ma and solving for a I came up with F/m=a

So...[mgsin(17)-mgsin(17)0.120]/m

This gave me 2.52 m/s^2

Plugging that into one of my kinematic equations...

s_f = s_i +v_i + 1/2at^2

s=(.5)(2.52)(28.2^2)

I ended up with the final distance as 1002m.

The book answer is 692m.

What am I missing?

 

[shallgren]

Remember that the normal (for dealing with the friction) is going to involve cosine, not sine.

 

[erok81]

Duh.

Yep, that was it.

Thank you.