Works with coefficient of friction

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the minimum work required to push a 1000 kg car up a 45-meter incline at a 12.5-degree angle, considering both scenarios of ignoring friction and accounting for a coefficient of friction of 0.30.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the calculation of work using different formulas, including gravitational potential energy and the work done against friction. Questions arise regarding the correct interpretation of displacement and the normal force at the incline angle.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, questioning assumptions about displacement and the relationship between potential energy and work. Some guidance has been offered regarding the use of gravitational potential energy to find work done, but no consensus has been reached on the calculations or interpretations.

Contextual Notes

There is a noted confusion regarding the vertical height versus the displacement along the incline, as well as the calculation of the normal force in the context of friction.

Echoeric666
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What is the minimum work needed to push a 1000 kg car up 45.0 meters up a 12.5 [tex]\circ[/tex] degree incline?
a. Ignore Friction
b. Assume the effective coefficient of friction is 0.30.


Work: W = (F*d)cos[tex]\theta[/tex]
Coefficient of friction: W = [tex]\mu[/tex]N(d)


What I did: W = (m*g)(d)cos[tex]\theta[/tex]. (1000kg)(9.8m / s^2)(45.0m)cos(102.5)
= -95449.9 J = 9.5 X 10^4 J work done to push the car up.

Then, the work friction is doing to car:
W = 0.30(1000kg*sin(12.5)*9.8 m/s^2)(45m)? This is where I get stuck because I know work done by friction on ramp is [tex]\mu[/tex]*normal force*displacement...
 
Last edited:
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Echoeric666 said:
What I did: W = (m*g)(d)cos[tex]\theta[/tex]. (1000kg)(9.8m / s^2)(45.0m)cos(102.5)
= -95449.9 J = 9.5 X 10^4 J work done to push the car up.

The vertical distance the car must move is not 45cosθ. Recheck this component. When you get the vertical height 'h', it just becomes W=mgh

Echoeric666 said:
Then, the work friction is doing to car:
W = 0.30(1000kg*sin(12.5)*9.8 m/s^2)(45m)? This is where I get stuck because I know work done by friction on ramp is [tex]\mu[/tex]*normal force*displacement...

What is the normal force at the angle θ ?
 
Sorry, I meant 45 meters up as displacement. So I used that displacement in W = (F*d)cos[tex]\theta[/tex] as shown in post.

Also...you're saying if I find the height, I can use mgh to find works? (That potential energy is equal to work)?
 
Echoeric666 said:
Sorry, I meant 45 meters up as displacement. So I used that displacement in W = (F*d)cos[tex]\theta[/tex] as shown in post.

Also...you're saying if I find the height, I can use mgh to find works? (That potential energy is equal to work)?

Yes since at the bottom there is only PE and at the top there will be only PE (since the mass will not be moving then), hence the change in PE will be the same as the work done. (This is because work done in a gravitational field in independent of path)
 
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