Question #716c5

1 Answer
Feb 12, 2016

The frictional force experienced by block is 0.98N

Explanation:

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Here's how your question looks like diagrammatically.

Given force F of 5N is applied to the box to keep it on the surface.
The box is of 0.1kg and its subsequent weight is 0.98N
Since the normal force is the equal to the force exerted on the surface by the box, then N=F=5N
That means the maximum static frictional force the surface can exert is \mu_sN=0.5*5=2.5N

But this isn't the end of it yet. We have to find out what exactly the frictional force is. Because even if the maximum frictional force is 2.5N, this isn't the force always experienced, it actually also depends on the force that causes the box to move, which here would be the force of gravity Mg
Seeing that Mg=0.98N, this means that the force of friction experienced by the object is actually 0.98N
This is because the only maximum force of friction depends on normal force, but the value the object will experience will be the force that tries to move it.