Final answer:
To draw a free-body diagram for a sled being dragged across loosely packed snow, you need to consider the forces of weight, normal force, friction force, and drag force. By including these forces in the diagram, you can analyze the sled's motion and acceleration.
Step-by-step explanation:
To draw a free-body diagram for a sled being dragged across loosely packed snow, we need to consider the forces acting on the sled. The main forces to include are:
- Weight (W): This force acts vertically downward and is equal to the mass of the sled multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity.
- Normal force (N): This force acts perpendicular to the surface of contact between the sled and the snow. It counteracts the weight of the sled and is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
- Friction force (f): This force acts parallel to the snow's surface in the opposite direction of motion. It opposes the motion of the sled and depends on the coefficient of kinetic friction.
- Drag force (D): This force may need to be included if there is air resistance acting on the sled, but it's not specified in the question.
By adding all of these forces to the free-body diagram, we can analyze the resulting motion and acceleration of the sled.