Tension / Kinetic Friction Help

[shimshi_o4]

Tension / Kinetic Friction Help!

Please help me.. i can't figure out how to solve this problems..

* A taboggan slides down a hill and has a constant velocity. The angle of the hill is 8.00 degrees with respect to the horizontal. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the surface of the hill and the taboggan?

 

[Astronuc]

This is an example of a mass sliding down an incline with friction.

What is the significance of the constant velocity and friction?

See this for a reference - http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/N2st.html#c2

 

[shimshi_o4]

i don't really know how to solve this problem.. I am sorry, i don't know its significance..

 

[Astronuc]

i don't really know how to solve this problem.. I am sorry, i don't know its significance..

When a force is applied to a mass, the mass accelerates.

When forces are balanced, e.g. if the force of gravity is balanced equally by the friction force, the net force is zero, which means that there is no acceleration, so the mass moves at 'constant velocity'. So on the incline the component of the force of gravity parallel to the surface of the incline is equal to the friction force, which is acting in the opposite direction.

Please refer to the Hyperphysics reference and the application of Newton's law to a mass on an incline.