Halliday ♦ Resnick ♦Walker

FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS
SIXTH EDITION

Selected Solutions

Chapter 6

6.9
6.21
6.27
6.43
9. (a) The free-body diagram for the block is shown below. F
is the applied force, N
is the normal force
of the wall on the block, f
is the force of friction, and m
g is the force of gravity. To determine if the
block falls, we find the magnitude f of the force of friction required to hold it without accelerating
and also find the normal force of the wall on the block.
We compare f and µs N . If .
......
f < µs N , the block does ........
... .... ... f

...
not slide on the wall but if ...
...
...
f > µs N , the block does slide. ...
...
...
The horizontal component of N
...
... F

...
Newton’s second law is F − .........................................................•
.
.. . . . . ..... ...
. .......
..................................................................
.
.... ... ....
N = 0, so N = F = 12 N and ...
...
...
µs N = (0.60)(12 N) = 7.2 N. ...
...
....
The vertical component is f − ...
...
....
mg = 0, so f = mg = 5.0 N. ... .... ..
...
........
Since f < µs N the block does ........
. m
g
not slide.
(b) Since the block does not move f = 5.0 N and N = 12 N. The force of the wall on the block is

F
w = −N î + f ĵ = −(12 N) î + (5.0 N) ĵ

where the axes are as shown on Fig. 6-21 of the text.

21. First, we check to see if the bodies start to move. We assume they remain at rest and compute the force
of (static) friction which holds them there, and compare its magnitude with the maximum value µs N .
The free-body diagrams are shown below. T is the magnitude of the tension force of the string, f is the
magnitude of the force of fric-
tion on body A, N is the mag-
nitude of the normal force of .
......
the plane on body A, mAg is 
.......
...............
......... T
......
 ................................ T ..................
N . ......... .....
..... ....
the force of gravity on body A .....
..... .....
.....
...
...
..... ...
...... ...
(with magnitude WA = 102 N), .....
.....
..... ...
.
.
....
.
....
. ...
...
..... ........
and mB g is the force of grav- ..•
.......
... ...... A
. .
B •
...
...
 ...
....
... ... ....
f.............. .... ...
.
...
...
ity on body B (with magnitude .
.
..............
... .....
...
...
.......... ..
WB = 32 N). θ = 40◦ is the an-
... ...
... ..... ...
... .. ...
...
...
θ .....
..
...
...
gle of incline. We are not told ...
... .....
..
...
...
the direction of f but we assume
... ...
... ...
... .... .. ...
......... ... .... ..
it is downhill. If we obtain a mAg ......
. mB g ........
........
.
negative result for f , then we
know the force is actually up the
plane.

(a) For A we take the +x to be uphill and +y to be in the direction of the normal force. The x and y
components of Newton’s second law become

T − f − WA sin θ = 0
N − WA cos θ = 0.

Taking the positive direction to be downward for body B, Newton’s second law leads to

WB − T = 0 .

Solving these three equations leads to

f = WB − WA sin θ = 32 − 102 sin 40◦ = −34 N

(indicating that the force of friction is uphill) and to

N = WA cos θ = 102 cos 40◦ = 78 N

which means that fs,max = µs N = (0.56)(78) = 44 N. Since the magnitude f of the force of friction
that holds the bodies motionless is less than fs,max the bodies remain at rest. The acceleration is
zero.
(b) Since A is moving up the incline, the force of friction is downhill with magnitude fk = µk N .
Newton’s second law, using the same coordinates as in part (a), leads to

T − fk − WA sin θ = mA a
N − WA cos θ = 0
WB − T = mB a

for the two bodies. We solve for the acceleration:

WB − WA sin θ − µk WA cos θ
a =
mB + mA
32 N − (102 N) sin 40◦ − (0.25)(102 N) cos 40◦
=

2
(32 N + 102 N) / 9.8 m/s
2
= −3.9 m/s .
27. The free-body diagrams for the slab and block are shown below. F
is the 100 N force applied to the
block, N
s is the normal force of the floor on the slab, Nb is the magnitude of the normal force between
the slab and the block, f
is the force of friction between the slab and the block, ms is the mass of the
slab, and mb is the mass of the block. For both objects, we take the +x direction to be to the left and
the +y direction to be up.
..
.......
.......
... .... ...

s
N .
......
.... .......

....
..
... .... ....
...
N b
... ....
... ..
... ...
... ...
....
.. F
...
...
f

f
•
... .... . ....
... ....................................................................................................................
..
.... ... ....
..
• slab
. .... ...
..............................................
. . . . .
.... ...
..
block ...
...
.
... ..... ... .....
.......
........ N
b ...
..
..
. ... .... ..
.... .......
... .... ..
........ m
g . b
........
........
. ms
g
Applying Newton’s second law for the x and y axes for (first) the slab and (second) the block results in
four equations:

f = m s as
Ns − Nb − ms g = 0
F −f = m b ab
Nb − mb g = 0

from which we note that the maximum possible static friction magnitude would be
2
µs Nb = µs mb g = (0.60)(10 kg)(9.8 m/s ) = 59 N .

We check to see if the block slides on the slab. Assuming it does not, then as = ab (which we denote
simply as a) and we solve for f :

ms F (40 kg)(100 N)
f= = = 80 N
ms + mb 40 kg + 10 kg

which is greater than fs,max so that we conclude the block is sliding across the slab (their accelerations
are different).

(a) Using f = µk Nb the above equations yield

2
F − µk m b g 100 N − (0.40)(10 kg)(9.8 m/s ) 2
ab = = = 6.1 m/s .
mb 10 kg

The result is positive which means (recalling our choice of +x direction) that it accelerates leftward.
(b) We also obtain
2
µk m b g (0.40)(10 kg)(9.8 m/s ) 2
as = = = 0.98 m/s .
ms 40 kg
As mentioned above, this means it accelerates to the left.
43. (a) At the top (the highest point in the circular motion) the seat pushes up on the student with a
force of magnitude N = 556 N. Earth pulls down with a force of magnitude W = 667 N. The
seat is pushing up with a force that is smaller than the student’s weight, and we say the student
experiences a decrease in his “apparent weight” at the highest point.
(b) When the student is at the highest point, the net force toward the center of the circular orbit is
W − Ft (note that we are choosing downward as the positive direction). According to Newton’s
second law, this must equal mv 2 /R, where v is the speed of the student and R is the radius of the
orbit. Thus
mv 2 /R = W − N = 667 N − 556 N = 111 N .

(c) Now N is the magnitude of the upward force exerted by the seat when the student is at the lowest
point. The net force toward the center of the circle is Fb − W = mv 2 /R (note that we are now
choosing upward as the positive direction). The Ferris wheel is “steadily rotating” so the value
mv 2 /R is the same as in part (a). Thus,

mv 2
N= + W = 111 N + 667 N = 778 N .
R

(d) If the speed is doubled, mv 2 /R increases by a factor of 4, to 444 N. Therefore, at the highest point
we have W − N = mv 2 /R, which leads to

N = 667 N − 444 N = 223 N .

Similarly, the normal force at the lowest point is now found to be N = 667 + 444 ≈ 1.1 kN.