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A 45 kg block of ice slides down a frictionless incline 1.5 m long and 0.91 m high. A worker pushes up against the ice, parallel to the incline, so that the block slides down at constant speed.

(a) Find the magnititude of the worker's force. How much work is done on the block by

User Skrealin
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Final answer:

To find the magnitude of the worker's force to keep the block of ice moving at a constant speed on a frictionless incline, one would use the mass of the ice, the acceleration due to gravity, and the angle of the incline found through trigonometry.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking to find the magnitude of the worker's force required to keep a 45 kg block of ice moving at a constant speed down a frictionless incline that is 1.5 m long and 0.91 m high. To find this force, we must consider the gravitational force component acting along the incline, which is m·g·sin(θ), where m is the mass, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and θ is the angle of the incline. Since the question states that the speed is constant, the net work done is zero, and the force exerted by the worker must be equal and opposite to the gravitational component pulling the block down the incline.

Assuming the angle θ can be calculated from the given dimensions of the incline, we use trigonometry to find sin(θ) = opposite/hypotenuse = 0.91/1.5. We then calculate the force using the equation F = m·g·sin(θ). With the mass (m) being 45 kg and the standard acceleration due to gravity (g) being approximately 9.8 m/s2, we can find the required force exerted by the worker.

User Akash Rajbanshi
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