Question

A skier with a mass of 62kg is sliding down a slope. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction for the skier if the friction is known to be 45N?

Answer 1

Answer:

The magnitude of kinetic friction is given as 45.0 N. Kinetic friction is related to the normal force N by fk = μk N; thus, we can find the coefficient of kinetic friction if we can find the normal force on the skier. The normal force is always perpendicular to the surface, and since there is no motion perpendicular to the surface, the normal force should equal the component of the skier’s weight perpendicular to the slope. (See Figure 6.5.1 , which repeats a figure from the chapter on Newton’s laws of motion.)