What is the acceleration of a toy car rolling down a ramp at a 20 degree angle?

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a toy car rolling down a ramp inclined at a 20-degree angle. The car's mass and the characteristics of its wheels are specified, and the question seeks to determine the car's acceleration and compare it to that of a frictionless block of the same mass.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster expresses uncertainty about how to begin calculating the acceleration of the toy car. Some participants reference a similar problem from an international physics olympiad, suggesting a potential connection to established problem-solving methods.

Discussion Status

Participants are exploring the problem's complexity and sharing insights about related problems. There is an ongoing exchange regarding the availability of solutions and the steps needed to approach the problem, but no consensus or clear direction has emerged yet.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention the challenge of solving the problem due to the number of equations and unknowns involved, indicating a potentially intricate setup that may require careful consideration of the physics principles at play.

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Homework Statement


A toy car has a total mass of 50 g, and rolls on freely spinning wheels, each of which can be modeled as a uniform disk of mass 1 g, and radius 2mm. What is the acceleration, a, of this toy car when it rolls without slipping down a ramp tilted at an angle of 20 degrees to the horizontal? By what factor is the toy car faster or slower than a frictionless block of the same total mass, ie what is a_car/a_frictionless?


Homework Equations


F=ma
velocity_center of mass=wr (w is angular velocity, r is radius)


The Attempt at a Solution


I don't know how to start this...how do you find the acceleration?
 
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This is like IPhO 2002 problem #3, I don't get it... maybe the solution for it will help?

http://www.jyu.fi/kastdk/olympiads/
 
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I don't see a link for the solution for that problem on the site you posted...I see the question, though. Can you send me a link to the solution?
 
hmm there's no link, I got there by going to the homepage then press on IPhO 02 and then the questions on the top with the answers on the bottom

I got to the part with 5 equations and 5 unknows but I haven't solved it yet. it seems like just a bit more complex situtation of your problem.
 

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