Physics problem with an inclined plane that accelerating..help?

2007-03-24 8:45 pm
There is a wedge A with an angle Theta and a mass Ma. There is a block B on this wedge with a mass Mb. There is no friction or gravity. The wedge is attached to a rail; so that it can’t move in any direction other than parallel to the x-axis, thus, torque is not an issue. An external force is applied to the left upon the wedge = Fext . What is the acceleration of block B? The wedge is pushed in the direction of the narrowing side.

I tried to figure it out, got an answer, but when I run it on my calculator as a function, I get the acceleration of the small block to max out before 90 degrees of inclination when its mass is greater then the big block.

And even weirder question, is what happens in the same case, but when the wedge, is weightless????

回答 (2)

2007-03-25 12:44 am
✔ 最佳答案
Consider A and B as a whole object. Total mass = M + m where M=mass of wedge, and m= mass of object on inclined plane. The whole system (A+B) is subject to two forces, one from the external force F acted along -ve x direction, and a force from the rail acting +ve y direction. The rail force is variable in magnitude so that A (wedge) is always held at the line y=0. The forces between the wedge and the object are internal forces which are equal and opposite to each other (and normal to the slope); so they won't affect the overall acceleration. As a result, the overall acceleration is parallel to external force F and its magnitude is:

A = F / (M + m)

The above eqn is true as long as M+m > 0.

Let a be the accel of B. The direction of a must be normal (i.e. pointing to the N-W direction) to the incline plane, since the normal reaction from the slope is the only force acting on B.

Now consider the resolution of acceleration. The real accel of B is "a" normal to the plane; the component of accel parallel to F is a*sin(theta), which equals to A from our previous calculation. So

a*sin(theta) = A
a = A / sin(theta) (assume theta <> 0) (*)
= F / [(M+m) * sin(theta)]

So a->infinity as theta->0!

But when theta=0, then step (*) is illegal (we cannot divide both side by ZERO). If theta=0, your question does not make sense. Because the normal force is parallel to +ve y-axis, it won't accel B parallel to x-axis. The wedge (which is a sheet at this case) will slide under the object. The object remains stationary and drops off from the right end of the wedge.
2016-10-01 10:30 pm
look on your figures, as a mass is retarding the action + acceleration is on a prone plane=>acceleration must be constantly below g i.e. 9.8 m/s^2. How a acceleration of 12 m/s^2 achieveable?


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