A couple weekends ago I was camping with my family and some family friends at a beach house in Waialua. While racking my brain to come up with an idea for a physics blog, I recalled a hike we went on above Dillingham Airfield. The path itself was pretty steep and it made for a moderately challenging hike, but I can now look back on it with the greater understanding afforded by PHYSICS! Here is a picture taken by one of my friends during the hike:
If I were to draw a free body diagram of myself in this picture (pretending that I'm not pushing off of the earth, thereby increasing the normal force), it would have these elements:
- An incline of maybe 50 degrees
- Weight vector straight down of 9.8m (m being my mass)
- Normal force perpendicular to the incline of 9.8mcos50
- Friction equal to the normal force times the coefficient of STATIC friction (I'm not sliding)
In reality, there would be a push force from my steps but we don't really know how to implement that because it would increase the normal force; however, the push would have to offset the x-component of the weight vector and the friction in order for me to move at a constant velocity.
Enjoying nature is even more fun with a deeper understanding of physics!! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment