Solving "An Person Pushes a Box Up a Hill: A Physics Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter danago
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Box Hill Physics
AI Thread Summary
The physics problem involves calculating the acceleration of a box being pushed up a 30-degree incline with a force of 450N, a mass of 20kg, and a friction force of 20N. The original calculation yielded an acceleration of 16.6 m/s², but the expected answer was 1.9 m/s². After resolving the forces into components, it was confirmed that the calculated acceleration should indeed be around 16.6 m/s², indicating a misunderstanding of the problem's parameters. The discussion highlights the importance of correctly applying the principles of force resolution and friction in physics problems. The final consensus is that the initial calculation was accurate, and the box's acceleration is significantly higher than 1.9 m/s².
danago
Gold Member
Messages
1,118
Reaction score
4
Hey. I've been given this problem:

"An person wishes to push a box up a hill, inclined at 30 degrees. He is able to push with a force of 450N. If the box has a mass of 20kg, and a force of friction with magnitude 20N applies, what is the acceleration of the box?"

I drew a diagram, and came up with this:
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/1124/incplaneob0.gif

What i did was resolve all of the forces into their components (parallel and perpendicular to the slope), including the weight and normal force, and then add them all.

I got an answer of 16.6 ms^-2, but apparently the answer is 1.9 ms^-2. Would someone be able to maybe quickly work it out, and tell me what the real answer is?

Thanks very much,
Dan.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
(450-20-20*9.81*sin(30))/20 = 16.595, so you should be correct. The box should have an acceleration plenty over 1.9 m/s2 even if the hill was vertical.
 
ok thanks for confirming that :-)
 
TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
Kindly see the attached pdf. My attempt to solve it, is in it. I'm wondering if my solution is right. My idea is this: At any point of time, the ball may be assumed to be at an incline which is at an angle of θ(kindly see both the pics in the pdf file). The value of θ will continuously change and so will the value of friction. I'm not able to figure out, why my solution is wrong, if it is wrong .
Back
Top