Alex is asked to move two boxes of books in contact with each other and resting on a rough floor. he decides to move them at the same time by pushing on box a with a horizontal pushing force fp = 9.1 n. here a has a mass ma = 10.6 kg and b has a mass mb = 7.0 kg. the contact force between the two boxes is →fc. the coefficient of kinetic friction between the boxes and the floor is 0.02. assume →fp
acts in the +x direction.
a. what is the magnitude of the acceleration of the two boxes?
b. what is the force exerted on mb
by ma? in other words what is the magnitude of the contact force →fc?
c. if alex were to push from the other side on the 7.0 kg box, what would the new magnitude of →fc be?

Part a)

Part b)

Part c)

Explanation:

Part a)

As we know that the friction force on two boxes is given as

Now we know by Newton's II law

so we have

Part b)

For block B we know that net force on it will push it forward with same acceleration so we have

Part c)

If Alex push from other side then also the acceleration will be same

So for box B we can say that Net force is given as

The values of the applied and acting force are;

The reasons the above values are correct are given as follows;

The known parameters of the mass and the applied forces are;

Horizontal pushing force applied, = 9.1 N in the positive x-direction

The mass of box A, = 10.6 kg

The mass of box B, = 7.0 kg

The coefficient of friction between the boxes and the floor = 0.02

The contact force between the boxes =

a. The magnitude and acceleration of the two boxes are given as follows;

The frictional force of the boxes, , is given as follows;

= g × ( + ) × μ

∴ = 9.81 × (10.6 + 7.0) × 0.02 = 3.45312

= 3.45312 N

The net force acting on the blocks, = -

∴   = 9.1 N - 3.45312 N = 5.64688 N

The acceleration of the blocks, a, is given as follows;

= m·a

Where;

m = +

∴ m = 10.6 kg + 7.0 kg = 17.6 kg

The magnitude of the acceleration of the boxes, a ≈ 0.321 m/s²

b. The force of = -  g × × μ - × a

The force of = 9.1 -  9.81 × 10.6 × 0.02 - 10.6 × 0.321 = 3.62

The contact force between the boxes, pushing from A, ≈ 3.62 N

c. If Alex pushes from the other side of the 7.0 kg box, we get;

= 9.1 - 9.81 × 7.0 × 0.02 - 7.0 × 0.321 ≈  5.48

= 5.48 N

If Alex pushes from the other side of the 7.0 kg box, ≈ 5.48 N

Learn more about Newton's First Law of motion here:

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