Problem

A large ice block of mass M = 80.0 kg is held stationary on a frictionless ramp. The ramp...

A large ice block of mass M = 80.0 kg is held stationary on a frictionless ramp. The ramp is at an angle of θ = 36.9° above the horizontal.

a) If the ice block is held in place by a tangential force along the surface of the ramp (at angle θ above the horizontal), find the magnitude of this force.

b) If, instead, the ice block is held in place by a horizontal force, directed horizontally toward the center of the ice block, find the magnitude of this force.

Step-by-Step Solution

Solution 1

Step #1 of 6

Think:

We start the problem with a free body diagram for the given system. Identify the forces acting on the system and on applying Newton’s second law, we can obtain the unknown values.

Step #2 of 6

Research:

Here, the block remains stationary in both the cases, so the acceleration of the block is zero. We can obtain the magnitude of the horizontal force and tangential force by determining the net force on the block in the two cases.

Step #3 of 6

Sketch:

The following is a free body diagram for the block is shown below,