Calculating Horizontal Force for a Shopping Cart on an Inclined Plane

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In summary, to find the horizontal force needed to give the cart an acceleration of 1.63 m/s2 on a 13° incline, you can use the formula \vec F = m \vec a or the formula \sum\\F_{x}=F_{1},_{x}+F_{2},_{x}=F_{1}+F_{2}\cos\theta, taking into account the force of gravity and the applied horizontal force.
  • #1
wr1015
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What formula do I use?

A shopper pushes a 7.3 kg shopping cart up a 13° incline, as shown in Figure 5-21. Find the horizontal force, F, needed to give the cart an acceleration of 1.63 m/s2.
 

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  • #2
What formula do I use?

Use [tex]\vec F = m \vec a[/tex]
 
  • #3
Tide said:
Use [tex]\vec F = m \vec a[/tex]

i did that and got 18.99 N but its being counted as wrong. There are some formulas in my book that show horizontal force as [tex]\sum\\F_{x}=F_{1},_{x}+F_{2},_{x}=F_{1}+F_{2}\cos\theta[/tex] but am not given any forces?? :confused:
 
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  • #4
You know what the force of gravity is! It's direction is vertical but has a component parallel to the incline. The shopper applies a horizontal force which also has a component parallel to the incline. The sum of the forces parallel to the incline equals mass times acceleration along the incline.

You should be able to take it from there.
 

What formula do I use?

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