What does the slope of an Fapplied vs Fnormal graph represent?

[joshqg]

Homework Statement

What does the slope of a Fapplied vs Fnormal graph represent

Relevant Equations

n/a

I've drawn the graph and it's a straight line and I've found the slope but I don't really know what the slope represents. My slope was also 0.002 if that helps with what it represents

 

[kuruman]

Please provide the full statement of the problem. What is the context here? Fapplied and Fnormal are forces exerted by what on what? Also, if you made a graph, you must have an equation. Please provide both.

 

[joshqg]

Please provide the full statement of the problem. What is the context here? Fapplied and Fnormal are forces exerted by what on what? Also, if you made a graph, you must have an equation. Please provide both.

The full question is "What does the slope of your graph represent? Use equations you've learned to support your answer." Also there are no equations given as we got the data from the experiment we conducted.

 

[kuruman]

So this relates to an experiment. Unless you describe in detail what experiment you did and post the data you collected, we cannot help you. You know what you did and what you measured but we don't.

 

[joshqg]

So this relates to an experiment. Unless you describe in detail what experiment you did and post the data you collected, we cannot help you. You know what you did and what you measured but we don't.

Well we used a spring scale and weights and pushed them across a wooden plank to find the f applied and f normal.

 

[kuruman]

Sorry, not enough detail. What was the spring scale connected to? How did you "push the weights across the plank"? How did you measure Fapplied and Fnormal? What procedure did you follow and what was the independent variable from one measurement to the next? How about a diagram of your setup? Put yourself in the reader's position who knows nothing about what you did.

 

[joshqg]

We used the spring scale and pulled the weights with our hands. We measured f applied from the spring scale reading and we measured f normal from the weights connected to the spring scale. The independent variable was the fnormal or the weights.

 

[kuruman]

We used the spring scale and pulled the weights with our hands. We measured f applied from the spring scale reading and we measured f normal from the weights connected to the spring scale. The independent variable was the fnormal or the weights.

Are you saying that you used the same spring scale to measure both the applied force and the normal force? Please show a drawing of your set up showing the scale(s) connected to the weights that you pulled with your hands and the "weights connected to the spring scale" that you used to measure the normal force. I cannot picture in my mind what you did based on your word description. A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[joshqg]

In this picture it has the spring scale with 200 g weight attached. The f normal is the 200 g weight and the f applied is the force it takes to move the weight across the table which shows on the spring scale reading.

 

[kuruman]

OK, I see now. I trust you were careful enough to make sure that the scale was pulled horizontally otherwise the normal force would be less than the weight as the scale would provide a vertical component opposing the weight. I also trust that the various weights were pulled at (more or less) constant speed when you recorded the applied force.

Anyway, what equation can you think of that relates the horizontal force to the normal force? Hint: Think friction.