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When you push a piece of chalk across a chalkboard, it sometimes screeches because it rapidly alternates between slipping and sticking to the board. Describe this process in more detail, in particular explaining how it is related to the fact that kinetic friction is less than static friction. (The same slip-grab process occurs when tires screech on pavement.)

Problems&Exercises

A physics major is cooking breakfast when he notices that the frictional force between his steel spatula and his Teflon frying pan is only 0.200 N. Knowing the coefficient of kinetic friction between the two materials, he quickly calculates the normal force. What is it?

5.00 N size 12{5 "." "00"`N} {}

(a) When rebuilding her car’s engine, a physics major must exert 300 N of force to insert a dry steel piston into a steel cylinder. What is the normal force between the piston and cylinder? (b) What force would she have to exert if the steel parts were oiled?

(a) What is the maximum frictional force in the knee joint of a person who supports 66.0 kg of her mass on that knee? (b) During strenuous exercise it is possible to exert forces to the joints that are easily ten times greater than the weight being supported. What is the maximum force of friction under such conditions? The frictional forces in joints are relatively small in all circumstances except when the joints deteriorate, such as from injury or arthritis. Increased frictional forces can cause further damage and pain.

Suppose you have a 120-kg wooden crate resting on a wood floor. (a) What maximum force can you exert horizontally on the crate without moving it? (b) If you continue to exert this force once the crate starts to slip, what will its acceleration then be?

(a) 588 N

(b) 1 . 96 m /s 2 size 12{`1 "." "96"`"m/s" rSup { size 8{2} } } {}

(a) If half of the weight of a small 1 . 00 × 10 3 kg size 12{`1 "." "00" times "10" rSup { size 8{3} } " kg"} {} utility truck is supported by its two drive wheels, what is the maximum acceleration it can achieve on dry concrete? (b) Will a metal cabinet lying on the wooden bed of the truck slip if it accelerates at this rate? (c) Solve both problems assuming the truck has four-wheel drive.

A team of eight dogs pulls a sled with waxed wood runners on wet snow (mush!). The dogs have average masses of 19.0 kg, and the loaded sled with its rider has a mass of 210 kg. (a) Calculate the acceleration starting from rest if each dog exerts an average force of 185 N backward on the snow. (b) What is the acceleration once the sled starts to move? (c) For both situations, calculate the force in the coupling between the dogs and the sled.

(a) 3.29 m/s 2

(b) 3.52 m/s 2

(c) 980 N; 945 N

Consider the 65.0-kg ice skater being pushed by two others shown in [link] . (a) Find the direction and magnitude of F tot size 12{F rSub { size 8{"tot"} } } {} , the total force exerted on her by the others, given that the magnitudes F 1 size 12{F rSub { size 8{1} } } {} and F 2 size 12{F rSub { size 8{2} } } {} are 26.4 N and 18.6 N, respectively. (b) What is her initial acceleration if she is initially stationary and wearing steel-bladed skates that point in the direction of F tot size 12{F rSub { size 8{"tot"} } } {} ? (c) What is her acceleration assuming she is already moving in the direction of F tot size 12{F rSub { size 8{"tot"} } } {} ? (Remember that friction always acts in the direction opposite that of motion or attempted motion between surfaces in contact.)

(a) Overhead view of two ice skaters pushing on a third. One skater pushes with a force F two, represented by an arrow pointing up, and a second skater pushes with a force F one, represented by an arrow pointing from left to right. Vector F one and vector F two are along the arms of the two skaters acting on the third skater. A vector diagram is shown in the form of a right triangle in which the base is vector F one pointing east, and perpendicular to F one is vector F two pointing north. The resultant vector is shown by the hypotenuse pointing northeast. (b) Free-body diagram showing only the forces acting on the skater.
Practice Key Terms 5

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Source:  OpenStax, Introduction to applied math and physics. OpenStax CNX. Oct 04, 2012 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11426/1.3
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