Question

At the base of a frictionless icy hill that rises at 25 degrees above the horizontal, a toboggan has a speed of 12 m/s toward the hill. What is the acceleration of the toboggan?

Answer 1

To determine the acceleration of the toboggan on a frictionless icy hill, we analyze the forces acting on it. The only force acting on the toboggan is the component of its weight parallel to the hill, which can be determined using trigonometry.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the acceleration of the toboggan, we need to analyze the forces acting on it. Since the hill is frictionless, the only force acting on the toboggan is the component of its weight parallel to the hill.

This force can be determined using trigonometry.

First, we need to find the component of the weight parallel to the hill by multiplying the weight by the sine of the angle of the hill. The weight of the toboggan can be calculated using the equation w = mg, where m is the mass of the toboggan and g is the acceleration due to gravity.

Once we have the force acting on the toboggan, we can use Newton's second law, F = ma, where F is the force and a is the acceleration, to calculate the acceleration of the toboggan.