Question

A chair with four legs has a mass of 6.00 kilograms. The chair is resting upright on the ground, and a 26.0 kilogram child is standing on the chair. What is the normal force being applied by the ground to a single leg of the chair? ( Assume gravitational acceleration is 9.81 meters per second squared.)​

Answer 1

78.5 N

Step-by-step explanation:

There are 6 forces acting on the chair:

Weight force mg pulling down,

The child's weight Mg pulling down,

and 4 normal forces N pushing up, one per leg.

Sum of forces in the y direction:

∑F = ma

4N − mg − Mg = 0

4N = mg + Mg

N = (m + M) g / 4

Plug in values:

N = (6.00 kg + 26.0 kg) (9.81 m/s²) / 4

N = 78.5 N