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Suppose you have an object sliding along a frictionless floor, but it's approaching a line where the floor changes from being frictionless to some constant coefficient of kinetic friction [itex]\mu_k[/itex]
When it is partially on the frictionless surface and partially on the frictional surface, would you calculate the frictional force by multiplying [itex]\mu_k[/itex] by the entire weight of the object? Or would you only multiply it by the portion of the weight that is above the frictional surface?
I think you would just multiply [itex]\mu_k[/itex] by the portion of the weight of the object that is above the frictional surface, but my textbook says nothing about this sort of situation.
(My question also applies to the transition between one surface to another when the two surfaces have a different [itex]\mu_k[/itex])
When it is partially on the frictionless surface and partially on the frictional surface, would you calculate the frictional force by multiplying [itex]\mu_k[/itex] by the entire weight of the object? Or would you only multiply it by the portion of the weight that is above the frictional surface?
I think you would just multiply [itex]\mu_k[/itex] by the portion of the weight of the object that is above the frictional surface, but my textbook says nothing about this sort of situation.
(My question also applies to the transition between one surface to another when the two surfaces have a different [itex]\mu_k[/itex])