CHAPTER 5

Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

Forces in two dimensions can be described using vector addition and
vector resolution.

SECTIONS
1 Vectors
2 Friction
3 Forces in Two Dimensions

LaunchLAB iLab Station

ADDING VECTORS
How can you add two force vectors with
magnitudes of 2 N and find a sum of 2 N?

WATCH THIS! Video

FORCES AND MOTION

A hurried commuter leaves a full coffee cup on top
of his car before leaving for work. As the car starts
moving, what will happen to the coffee cup? How
long will it stay on the car before falling off?
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 Go online!
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Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions 121

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 SECTION 1 Vectors
PHYSICS Hanging by your fingertips hundreds of meters above the
ground may not be your idea of fun, but every year millions

4 YOU of people enjoy the sport of rock climbing. During their

ascents, climbers apply forces in many different directions
to overcome the force of gravity pulling them down.

Vectors in Two Dimensions

How do climbers cling to a rock wall? Often the climber has more
than one support point. This means there are multiple forces acting on
him. Because he grips crevices in the rock, the rock pulls back on him.
Also the rope secures him to the rock, so there are two contact forces
MAIN IDEA acting on him. Gravity pulls on him as well, so there are a total of three
All vectors can be broken into x- and forces acting on the climber.
y-components. One aspect of this situation that is different from the ones that you
might have studied earlier is that the forces exerted by the rock face on
Essential Questions the climber do not push or pull only in the horizontal or vertical direc-
• How are vectors added graphically? tion. You know from previous study that you can pick your coordinate
system and orient it in the way that is most useful to analyze a situation.
• What are the components of a vector?
But how can you set up a coordinate system for a net force when you are
• How are vectors added algebraically? dealing with more than one dimension? And what happens when the
forces are not at right angles to each other?
Review Vocabulary
vector a quantity that has magnitude
Vectors revisited Let’s begin by reviewing force vectors in one
and direction dimension. Consider the case in Figure 1 in which you and a friend both
push on a table together. Suppose that you each exert a 40-N force to the
New Vocabulary right. The sum of the forces is 80 N to the right, which is what you
components probably expected. But how do you find the sum of these force vectors?
vector resolution In earlier discussions of adding vectors along a straight line, you learned
the resultant vector always points from the tail of the first vector to the
tip of the final vector. Does this rule still apply when the vectors do not
lie along a straight line?

Figure 1 The sum of the two applied forces is 80 N to the right.

FA on table + FB on table = FA and B on table

=
40 N 40 N 80 N

FB on table
Aaron Black/The Image Bank/Getty Images

FA on table

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 Adding vectors in two dimensions Even
when vectors do not lie on a straight line, the resultant
vector always points from the tail of the first vector to
the tip of the final vector. You can use a protractor
B
and a ruler both to draw the vectors at the correct
+
angles and also to measure the magnitude and the A
direction of the resultant vector. Figure 2 illustrates
how to add vectors graphically in two dimensions.
Notice that when vector B is moved, its magnitude
and direction are unchanged. This is always the
case—you do not change a vector’s length or direction
when you move that vector.

READING CHECK Describe the process of graphically B

adding vectors using a protractor and a ruler.

Perpendicular vectors You can also use trigonometry to A

determine the length and the direction of resultant
vectors. Remember that you can use the Pythagorean
theorem to find the lengths of a right triangle’s sides.
If you were adding together two vectors at right R
angles, such as vector A pointing east and vector B B
pointing north in Figure 2, you could use the Pythago-
rean theorem to find the resultant's magnitude (R).
R2 = A2 + B2 A

Angles other than 90° If you are adding two vectors that
Figure 2 When adding vectors in two dimensions, follow the same
are at an angle other than 90°, as in Figure 3, then you process as adding vectors in one dimension: place vectors tip to tail
can use the law of sines or the law of cosines. It is best and then connect the tail of the first vector to the tip of the final vector
to use the law of sines when you are given two angle to find the resultant.
measurements and only one vector magnitude. The
law of cosines is particularly useful when given two
vectors and the angle between the two vectors.
Law of Sines
_
R
=_
A
=_
B
sin θ sin a sin b Figure 3 If the vectors are not at right angles, the Pythagorean theo-
rem does not apply. Instead, use the law of cosines or the law of sines
Law of Cosines with the variables as shown below.

R2 = A2 + B2 - 2AB cos θ
What happens if you apply the law of cosines to a
a
triangle in which θ = 90°? Notice that the first three
terms in the law of cosines are the same three terms
found in the Pythagorean theorem. The final term in
the law of cosines, −2AB cos θ, equals zero if θ = 90° R
because cos (90°) = 0. B

R2 = A2 + B2 − 2AB cos 90°

R2 = A2 + B2 − 2AB (0)
R2 = A2 + B2 θ
b
If θ = 90°, the triangle is a right triangle and the A
law of cosines reduces to the Pythagorean theorem.

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 EXAMPLE PROBLEM 1 Find help with square and cube roots. Math Handbook
EXAMPLLE PROBLEM
FINDING THE MAGNITUDE OF THE SUM OF TWO VECTORS Find the magnitude of the sum of a
15-km displacement and a 25-km displacement when the angle θ between them is 90°
and when the angle θ between them is 135°.

1 ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM

• Sketch the two displacement vectors, A and B, and the B
angle between them. 2

KNOWN UNKNOWN A
A = 25 km θ = 90° or θ 2 = 135° R=?
B = 15 km R
2 SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN
When the angle θ is 90°, use the Pythagorean theorem to
find the magnitude of the resultant vector.

R2 = A2 + B2

R = √
A2 + B2

= √
(25 km)2 + (15 km)2

▼
Substitute A = 25 km, B = 15 km

= 29 km

When the angle θ does not equal 90°, use the law of cosines to find the magnitude
of the resultant vector.

R2 = A2 + B2 - 2AB(cos θ 2)

R= √
A2 + B2 - 2AB(cos θ 2)

= √
(25 km)2 + (15 km)2 - 2(25 km)(15 km)(cos 135°) Substitute A = 25 km, B = 15 km, θ2 = 135°
▼

= 37 km

3 EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are the units correct? Each answer is a length measured in kilometers.
• Do the signs make sense? The sums are positive.
• Are the magnitudes realistic? From the sketch, you can see the resultant should be
longer than either vector.

PRACTICE PROBLEMS Do additional problems. Online Practice

PRACTICE PROBLEMS

1. A car is driven 125.0 km due west then 65.0 km due south. What is the magni-
tude of its displacement? Solve this problem both graphically and mathemati-
cally, and check your answers against each other.
2. Two shoppers walk from the door of the mall to their car. They walk 250.0 m
down a lane of cars, and then turn 90° to the right and walk an additional 60.0 m.
How far is the shoppers’ car from the mall door? Solve this problem both graphi-
cally and mathematically, and check your answers against each other.
3. A hiker walks 4.5 km in one direction then makes a 45° turn to the right and walks
another 6.4 km. What is the magnitude of the hiker’s displacement?
4. CHALLENGE An ant crawls on the sidewalk. It first moves south a distance of
5.0 cm. It then turns southwest and crawls 4.0 cm. What is the magnitude of the
ant’s displacement?

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 +y +y

A A A
Ay
θ
Origin +x Ax +x
You may place the vector on any
coordinate system as long as the vec- The coordinate system can be orient- If the components of a vector are
tor’s direction and magnitude remain ed to make the problem easier to added together, they result in the
unchanged. solve. original vector.

Figure 4 Vector A is placed on a coordinate

Vector Components system. Notice that A’s direction is measured
counterclockwise from the positive x-axis.
What is the direction of the vector shown in the left panel in Figure 4?
The vector isn’t pointing directly up or to the right, but somewhere Describe a vector whose y-component
is zero.
between the two. To determine the exact direction, we need to choose a
coordinate system. This coordinate system, such as the one in the center
panel of Figure 4, is similar to laying a grid drawn on a sheet of transparent
plastic on top of a vector problem. You choose where to put the center of
the grid (the origin) and establish the directions in which the axes point.
Notice that the x-axis is drawn through the origin with an arrow pointing View an animation of component vectors.
in the positive direction. The positive y-axis is located 90° from the positive Concepts In Motion
x-axis and crosses the x-axis at the origin.
How do you choose the direction of the x-axis? There is never a single
correct answer, but some choices make the problem easier to solve than
others. When the motion you are describing is confined to the surface of
Earth, it is often convenient to have the x-axis point east and the y-axis
point north. If the motion is on an incline, it’s convenient to place the
positive x-axis in the direction of the motion parallel to the surface of
the incline.
Component vectors Defining a coordinate system allows you to
describe a vector in a very useful way. Vector A, shown in the right panel
of Figure 4, for example, could now be described as going 5 units in the
positive x-direction and 4 units in the positive y-direction. You can
represent this information in the form of two vectors like the ones
labeled Ax and Ay in the diagram. Notice that Ax is p parallel to the x-axis
VOCABULARY
and Ay is parallel to the y-axis. Further, you can see that if you add Ax Science Usage v. Common Usage
and Ay, the resultant is the original vector, A. A vector
tor can be broken into
its components, which are a vector parallel to the xx-axis and another Components
• Science usage
parallel to the y-axis. This can always be done, and the
t following vector projections of a vector parallel
equation is always true. to the x- and y-axes
A vector is the algebraic sum of its
A = Ax + Ay components.
This process of breaking a vector into its components
nents is sometimes
n • Common usage
a constituent part or ingredient
called vector resolution. Notice that the original vvector is the hypot- Some of the computer’s electronic
enuse of a right triangle. This means that the magnitude
iitude of the original components malfunctioned during the
vector will always be greater than or equal to the magnitude
magnitude of either power surge.
component vector.

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 Direction in coordinate systems In a two-dimensional force
problem, you should carefully select your coordinate system because the
direction of any vector will be specified relative to those coordinates.
We define the direction of a vector as the angle that the vector makes
with the x-axis, measured counterclockwise from the positive x-axis. In
Figure 5, the angle (θ) represents the direction of the vector (A). All
algebraic calculations involve only the components of vectors, not the
vectors themselves.
In addition to measuring the lengths of the component vectors
graphically, you can find the components by using trigonometry. The
components are calculated using the equations below.
adjacent side
A
cos θ = __ = _x ; therefore, Ax = A cos θ
hypotenuse A
opposite side A
sin θ = __ = _; therefore, Ay = A sin θ
Figure 5 The coordinate plane is divided y

into four quadrants. A vector’s components hypotenuse A

will be positive or negative depending on the
When the angle that a vector makes with the x-axis is larger than 90°,
vector’s quadrant.
the sign of one or more components is negative, as shown in the top
Classify as positive or negative the compo- coordinate system of Figure 5.
nents of a vector whose angle is 280°. In
which quadrant does the vector lie? READING CHECK Explain how you should measure the direction of a vector.

n Coordinate System
+y
Second quadrant First quadrant
90° < θ < 180° 0° < θ < 90°

Ax is negative. Ax is positive.

Ay is positive. Ay is positive.

tan θ is negative. tan θ is positive.

II I
+x
III IV

Ax is negative. Ax is positive.

Ay is negative. Ay is negative.

tan θ is positive. tan θ is negative.

Third quadrant Fourth quadrant

180° < θ < 270° 270° < θ < 360°

Example: r

A is in 2nd quadrant.

+y
r

&YQFDU
Ax to be negative:
A
Ay θ = 130°
Ax = A cosθ = (5.0 N) cos 130° = -3.2 N
Ax +x
r

&YQFDU
Ay to be positive.

Ay = A sinθ = (5.0 N) sin 130° = 3.8 N

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 +y +y +y

R = √R

2 2
x + Ry

C Cy Cy

B Cx By R Ry
By
Bx
A
Ay Ay
θ
Ax +x Ax Bx Cx +x Rx +x

Add the vectors graphically by placing Add the x-components together The magnitude of R can be calculated
them tip to tail. and the y-components together. using the Pythagorean theorem.

Figure 6 The vector sum of A, B, and C is

Algebraic Addition of Vectors the same as the vector sum of Rx and Ry.
You might be wondering why you should resolve vectors into their
components. Figure 6 shows how resolving vectors into components makes
adding vectors together much easier. Two or more vectors (A, B, C, etc.)
may be added by first resolving each vector into its x- and y-components.
You add the x-components to form the x-component of the resultant:
Rx = Ax + Bx + Cx.
Similarly, you add the y-components to form the y-component of the
resultant:
Ry = Ay + By + Cy.
Because Rx and Ry are at a right angle (90°), you can calculate the magnitude
of the resultant vector using the Pythagorean theorem,
R2 = Rx 2 + Ry2
To find the resultant vector’s direction, recall that the angle the vector
makes with the x-axis is given by the following equation.

( )
Ry
θ = tan-1 _
Rx
You can find the angle by using the tan -1 key on your calculator.
Note that when tan θ > 0, most calculators give the angle between 0°
and 90°. When tan θ < 0, the reported angle will be between 0° and −90°.

PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
VECTOR ADDITION
Use the following technique to solve problems for which you need to add or subtract vectors.
1. Choose a coordinate system.
2. Resolve the vectors into their x-components using Ax = A cos θ and their
y-components using Ay = A sin θ, where θ is the angle measured
counterclockwise from the positive x-axis.
3. Add or subtract the component vectors in the x-direction.
4. Add or subtract the component vectors in the y-direction.
5. Use the Pythagorean theorem, R = √
Rx2 + Ry2 , to find the magnitude of the
resultant vector.
Ry
()
6. Use θ = tan-1 _ to find the angle of the resultant vector.
Rx

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 EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2 Find help with trigonometry. Math Handbook
EXAMPLLE PROBLEM
FINDING YOUR WAY HOME You are on a hike. Your camp is 15.0 km away, in the direction
40.0° north of west. The only path through the woods leads directly north. If you follow
the path 5.0 km before it opens into a field, how far, and in what direction, would you
have to walk to reach your camp?
+y
1 ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM
• Draw the resultant vector, R, from your original location to your camp.
• Draw A, the known vector, and draw B, the unknown vector.
B
KNOWN UNKNOWN
A = 5.0 km, due north B=? A
R = 15.0 km, 40.0° north of west R
θ = 140.0°
40.0
2 SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN
Find the components of R.
+x
Rx = R cos θ
180.0 - 40.0 = 140.0
Substitute R = 15.0 km, θ = 140.0°.
▼

= (15.0 km) cos 140.0°

= -11.5 km
Ry = R sin θ
Substitute R = 15.0 km, θ = 140.0°.
▼

= (15.0 km) sin 140.0°

= 9.64 km
Because A is due north, Ax = 0.0 km and Ay = 5.0 km.
Use the components of R and A to find the components of B.
Bx = Rx − Ax
= −11.5 km − 0.0 km
▼▼

Substitute Rx = −11.5 km, A x = 0.0 km.

= −11.5 km The negative sign means that this component points west.
By = Ry − Ay
▼ ▼

= 9.64 km − 5.0 km Substitute R y = 9.64 km, A y = 5.0 km.

= 4.6 km This component points north.
Use the components of vector B to find the magnitude of vector B.
B= √
Bx2 + By2
▼

= √
(-11.5 km)2 + (4.6 km)2 Substitute Bx = −11.5 km, B y = 4.6 km.
= 12.4 km
Locate the tail of vector B at the origin of a coordinate system, and draw the com-
ponents Bx and By. The vector B is in the second quadrant. Use the tangent to find
the direction of vector B.

θ = tan-1 _( )
By
Bx

= tan-1 _( −11.5 km )
4.6 km
▼

Substitute B y = 4.6 km, Bx = −11.5 km.

▼

= -22° or 158° Tangent of an angle is negative in quadrants II and IV, so two answers are possible.
Since B is in the second quadrant, θ, measured from the positive x-axis, must be
158°. This direction can also be given as 22° north of west. Thus, B = 12.4 km at
22° north of west.

3 EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are the units correct? Kilometers and degrees are correct.
• Do the signs make sense? They agree with the diagram.
• Is the magnitude realistic? The length of B should be longer than Rx because the
angle between A and B is greater than 90°.

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 PRACTICE PROBLEMS Do additional problems. Online Practice

PRACTICE PROBLEMS
Solve problems 5–10 algebraically. You may also solve
some of them graphically to check your answers.

5. Sudhir walks 0.40 km in a direction 60.0° west of

north then goes 0.50 km due west. What is his
13º 13º
displacement?
6. You first walk 8.0 km north from home then walk
east until your displacement from home is
10.0 km. How far east did you walk?
7. In a coordinate system in which the positive
Figure 7
x-axis is east, for what range of angles is the
x-component positive? For what range is it
negative?
8. Could a vector ever be shorter than one of its

S
components? Could a vector ever be equal in
length to one of its components? Explain.
9. Two ropes tied to a tree branch hold up a child’s
swing as shown in Figure 7. The tension in each
rope is 2.28 N. What is the combined force
(magnitude and direction) of the two ropes on the
swing?
10. CHALLENGE Afua and Chrissy are going to sleep
overnight in their tree house and are using some
ropes to pull up a 3.20-kg box containing their
pillows and blankets. The girls stand on different 17.7 N
20.4 N
branches, as shown in Figure 8, and pull at the 120.0°
angles with the forces indicated. Find the x- and 55.0°
y-components of the initial net force on the box.
Hint: Draw a free-body diagram so you do not
leave out a force.
Figure 8

SECTION 1 REVIEW Section Self-Check Check your understanding.

11. MAIN
MAI N IDEA Find the components of vector M, shown in 15. Commutative Operations Mathematicians say that
Figure 9. vector addition is commutative because the order in
which vectors are added does not matter.

5.0 a. Use the vectors from Figure 9 to show graphically

that M + L = L + M.
-4.0 M 37.0°
K b. Which ordinary arithmetic operations (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division) are
commutative? Which are not? Give an example of
each operation to support your conclusion.
6.0 16. Distance v. Displacement Is the distance you walk equal
L
to the magnitude of your displacement? Give an
Figure 9 example that supports your conclusion.
17. Critical Thinking You move a box through one dis-
12. Components of Vectors Find the components of vectors placement and then through a second displacement.
K and L in Figure 9. The magnitudes of the two displacements are unequal.
13. Vector Sum Find the sum of the three vectors shown in Could the displacements have directions such that the
Figure 9. resultant displacement is zero? Suppose you move the
box through three displacements of unequal magni-
14. Vector Difference Subtract vector K from vector L, tude. Could the resultant displacement be zero?
shown in Figure 9. Support your conclusion with a diagram.

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 SECTION 2 Friction
PHYSICS Imagine trying to play basketball while wearing socks
instead of athletic shoes. You would slip and slide all over

4 YOU the basketball court. Shoes help provide the forces

necessary to quickly change directions while running up and
down the court.

Kinetic and Static Friction

Shove your book across a desk. When you stop pushing, the book
will quickly come to rest. The friction force of the desk acting on the
book accelerated it in the direction opposite to the one in which the
book was moving. So far, you have not considered friction in solving
problems, but friction is all around you.
Types of friction There are two types of friction. When you moved
your book across the desk, the book experienced a type of friction that
MAIN IDEA acts on moving objects. This force is known as kinetic friction, and it is
Friction is a type of force between two exerted on one surface by another when the two surfaces rub against
touching surfaces. each other because one or both surfaces are moving.
To understand the other type of friction, imagine trying to push a
couch across the floor as shown on the left in Figure 10. You push on it
Essential Questions
with a small force, but it does not move. Because it is not accelerating,
• What is the friction force?
Newton’s laws tell you that the net force on the couch must be zero.
• How do static and kinetic friction differ? There must be a second horizontal force acting on the couch, one that
opposes your force and is equal in size. This force is static friction, which
Review Vocabulary is the force exerted on one surface by another when there is no motion
force push or pull exerted on an object between the two surfaces. You need to push harder.
New Vocabulary If the couch still does not move, the force of static friction must be
increasing in response to your applied force. Finally when you push hard
kinetic friction
enough, the couch will begin to move as in the right side of Figure 10.
static friction Evidently there is a limit to how large the static friction force can be.
coefficient of kinetic friction Once your force is greater than this maximum static friction, the couch
coefficient of static friction begins moving and kinetic friction begins to act on it.

Figure 10 An applied force is balanced by static friction up to a maximum limit. When this limit is
exceeded, the object begins to move.
Identify the type of friction force acting on the couch when it begins to move.

Pete Saloutos/Photographer's Choice RF/Getty Images

Fstatic friction Fyou on couch Fkinetic friction Fyou on couch

Static friction increases up to a maxi- The couch accelerates when the applied
mum to balance the applied force. force exceeds the maximum static fric-
tion force.

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 Mathematical models for friction forces On what does a
friction force depend? The materials that the surfaces are made of play a
role. For example, there is more friction between your shoes and con-
crete than there is between your socks and a polished wood floor. It
might seem reasonable that the force of friction depends on either the
surface area in contact or the speed at which the surfaces move past each
other. Experiments have shown that this is not true. The normal force
Figure 11 The spring scale applies a con-
between the two objects does matter, however. The harder one object is stant force on the block.
pushed against the other, the greater the force of friction that results.
READING CHECK Identify the two factors that affect friction forces.

Kinetic friction Imagine pulling a block along a surface at a constant

velocity. Since the block is not accelerating, according to Newton’s laws,
the friction force must be equal and opposite to the force with which you
PhysicsLAB
pull. Figure 11 shows one way in which you can measure the force you HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER
FORENSICS LAB How can you
exert as you pull a block of known mass along a table at a constant
determine a car's speed by examin-
velocity. The spring scale will indicate the force you exert on the block. ing the tire marks left at the scene
You can then stack additional blocks on top of the first block to increase of an accident?
the normal force and repeat the measurement. Table 1 shows the results
of such an experiment. iLab Station
Plotting the data will yield a graph like the one in Figure 12. There is a
linear relationship between the kinetic friction force and the normal
force. The different lines on the graph correspond to dragging the block
along different surfaces. Note that the line for the sandpaper surface has
a steeper slope than the line for the highly polished table. You would
expect it to be much harder to pull the block along sandpaper than
along a polished table, so the slope must be related to the magnitude of
the resulting friction force. The slope of the line on a kinetic friction
force v. normal force graph, designated μk, is called the coefficient of
kinetic friction and relates the friction force to the normal force.
Figure 12 A plot of kinetic friction v. normal
KINETIC FRICTION FORCE force for a block pulled along different sur-
The kinetic friction force equals the product of the coefficient of faces shows a linear relationship between
kinetic friction and the normal force. the two forces for each surface. The slope of
the line is μk.
Ff, kinetic = μkFN Compare the coefficient of kinetic friction
for the three surfaces shown on the graph.

Table 1 Kinetic Friction v. Normal Force (sandpaper) Kinetic Friction Force v. Normal Force
4.5
Number of Normal force Kinetic
blocks (N) friction (N) 4.0
Kinetic friction (N)

3.5
1 0.98 0.53
3.0
2 1.96 0.95 r
2.5
ape
3 2.94 1.4 2.0 n dp
4 3.92 1.8 Sa gh table
1.5 Rou
5 4.90 2.3 1.0
table
0.5 olished
Highly p
6 5.88 3.1
7 6.86 3.3 0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
8 7.84 4.0 Normal force (N)

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 Static friction The maximum static friction force relates to the normal
REAL-WORLD force in a similar way as the kinetic friction force. Remember that the
static friction force acts in response to a force trying to cause a stationary
PHYSICS object to start moving. If there is no such force acting on an object, the
static friction force is zero. If there is a force trying to cause motion, the
CAUSES OF FRICTION All surfaces, static friction force will increase up to a maximum value before it is
even those that appear to be smooth, overcome and motion starts.
are rough at a microscopic level. If
you look at a photograph of a graph- STATIC FRICTION FORCE
ite crystal magnified by a scanning The static friction force is less than or equal to the product
tunneling microscope, the atomic of the coefficient of static friction and the normal force.
level surface irregularities of the crys-
tal are revealed. When two surfaces
Ff, static ≤ μsFN
touch, the high points on each are in
contact and temporarily bond. This is In the equation for the maximum static friction force, μs is the
the origin of both static and kinetic coefficient of static friction between the two surfaces. The maximum
friction. The details of this process are static friction force that must be overcome before motion can begin is
still unknown and are the subject of
μsFN. In the example of pushing the couch shown in Figure 10, the maxi-
research in both physics and engi-
neering. mum static friction force balances the force of the person pushing on the
couch the instant before the couch begins to move.
Note that the equations for the kinetic and maximum static friction
forces involve only the magnitudes of the forces. The friction forces (Ff )
are always perpendicular to the normal force (FN).
Measuring coefficients of friction Table 2 shows coefficients of
friction between various surfaces. These coefficients are estimates for
each combination of surfaces. Measurements of coefficients of friction
are quite sensitive to the conditions of the surfaces. Surface impurities,
such as dust or small amounts of oil from experimenters’ hands, can
significantly affect the results of the measurements. Another important
fact regarding Table 2 is that all the measurements were made on dry
surfaces (with the exception of the oiled steel). Wet surfaces behave quite
differently than dry surfaces. The linear relationship between the kinetic
friction force and the normal force does not always apply to wet surfaces
or surfaces treated with oil. All problems in this text assume dry surfaces
and a linear relationship between the kinetic friction force and the
normal force.

Table 2 Typical Coefficients of Friction*

PhysicsLAB Surfaces
Coefficient of static
friction (μs)
Coefficient of
kinetic friction (μk)
COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION Cast iron on cast iron 1.1 0.15
How are coefficients of static and
kinetic friction measured? Glass on glass 0.94 0.4

iLab Station Leather on oak 0.61 0.52

Nonstick coating on steel 0.04 0.04

Oak on oak 0.62 0.48

Steel on steel 0.78 0.42

Steel on steel (with castor oil) 0.15 0.08

*All measurements are for dry surfaces unless otherwise stated.

132 Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

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 EXAMPLE PROBLEM 3 Find help with significant figures. Math Handbook

EXAMPLE PR
BALANCED FRICTION FORCES You push a 25.0-kg wooden box across a wooden floor at a
constant speed of 1.0 m/s. The coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.20. How large is the force
that you exert on the box?

1 ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM

• Identify the forces, and establish a coordinate system. Fp
• Draw a motion diagram indicating constant v and a = 0.
• Draw the free-body diagram.

ROBLEM
KNOWN UNKNOWN Ff
m = 25.0 kg v = 1.0 m/s FPerson on box = ? FN
a = 0.0 m/s2 μk = 0.20 v
Begin
Ff Fp
2 SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN +y a = 0 m/s 2 Fg
The normal force is in the y-direction, and the box does not Fnet = 0 N
accelerate in that direction. +x
FN = −Fg
= −mg
▼ ▼

Substitute Fg = mg
= −(25.0 kg)(−9.8 N/kg) Substitute m = 25.0 kg, g = −9.8 N/kg
= +245 N

The pushing force is in the x-direction; v is constant, thus the box does not
accelerate.
FPerson on box = μk FN
Substitute μk = 0.20, F N = 245 N
▼

= (0.20)(245 N)
= 49 N
FPerson on box = 49 N, to the right

3 EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are the units correct? Force is measured in newtons.
• Does the sign make sense? The positive sign agrees with the sketch.
• Is the magnitude realistic? The pushing force is _
1
the weight of the box. This
5
corresponds with μk = 0.20 = _
1
.
5

PRACTICE PROBLEMS Do additional problems. Online Practice

PRACTICE PROBLEMS
18. Gwen exerts a 36-N horizontal force as she pulls a 52-N sled across a cement
sidewalk at constant speed. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the
sidewalk and the metal sled runners? Ignore air resistance.
19. Mr. Ames is dragging a box full of books from his office to his car. The box and
books together have a combined weight of 134 N. If the coefficient of static friction
between the pavement and the box is 0.55, how hard must Mr. Ames push horizon-
tally on the box in order to start it moving?
20. Thomas sits on a small rug on a polished wooden floor. The coefficient of kinetic
friction between the rug and the slippery wooden floor is only 0.12. If Thomas
weighs 650 N, what horizontal force is needed to pull the rug and Thomas across
the floor at a constant speed?
21. CHALLENGE You need to move a 105-kg sofa to a different location in the room. It
takes a 403-N force to start the sofa moving. What is the coefficient of static friction
S

between the sofa and the carpet?

Section 2 • Friction 133

0130_0135_C05_S02_659252.indd 133 3/16/11 2:35 PM

 EXAMPLE PROBLEM 4 Find help with isolating a variable. Math Handbook
EXAMPLLE PROBLEM
UNBALANCED FRICTION FORCES Imagine the force you exert on
the 25.0-kg box in Example Problem 3 is doubled.
a. What is the resulting acceleration of the box?
b. How far will you push the box if you push it for 3 s?

1 ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM v

• Draw a motion diagram showing v and a. Begin
• Draw the free-body diagram with a doubled Fperson on box a

KNOWN UNKNOWN
m = 25.0 kg μk = 0.20 a=? N
+y
v = 1.0 m/s Fperson on box = 2(49 N) = 98 N
f person on box
t = 3.0 s g

2 SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN net

a. The normal force is in the y-direction, and the box does not accelerate in +x
that direction.
FN = −Fg
= -mg

The box does accelerate in the x-direction. So the forces must be unequal.
Fnet = Fperson on box − Ff
ma = Fperson on box − Ff
▼

Substitute Fnet = ma.

Fperson on box − Ff
a = __ m

Find Ff and substitute it into the expression for a.

Ff = μk FN
▼

= μk mg Substitute F N = mg.

Fperson on box - μ k mg
a = __ Substitute F f = μkmg.
▼

98 N - (0.20)(25.0 kg)(9.8 N/kg)

= ___ Substitute F person on box = 98 N, μk = 0.20, m = 25.0 kg, g = 9.8 N/kg.
▼

25.0 kg

= 2.0 m/s2

b. Use the relationship between distance, time, and constant acceleration.

xf = xi + vitf + _
1 2
atf
2

(2)
xf = vit + _
1 2
▼

at Substitute xi = 0 m.

= (1.0 m/s)(3.0 s) + _
1
(2)
(2.0 m/s2)(3.0 s)2 Substitute v i = 1 m/s, t = 3.0 s, a = 2.0 m/s2 .
▼

= 12 m

3 EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are the units correct? a is measured in m/s2, and xf is measured in meters.
• Does the sign make sense? In this coordinate system, the sign should be positive.
• Is the magnitude realistic? 12 m is about the length of two full-sized cars. It is realis-
tic to push a box of this distance in 3 s.

134 Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

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 PRACTICE PROBLEMS Do additional problems. Online Practice

PRACTICE PROBLEMS
22. A 1.4-kg block slides freely across a rough surface such that
the block slows down with an acceleration of −1.25 m/s2.
What is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block
and the surface?
23. You want to move a 41-kg bookcase to a different place in the
living room. If you push with a force of 65 N and the bookcase
accelerates at 0.12 m/s2, what is the coefficient of kinetic
friction between the bookcase and the carpet?
24. Consider the force pushing the box in Example Problem 4.
How long would it take for the velocity of the box to double to
2.0 m/s?
25. Ke Min is driving at 23 m/s. He sees a tree branch lying
across the road. He slams on the brakes when the branch is
60.0 m in front of him. If the coefficient of kinetic friction

S
between the car’s locked tires and the road is 0.41, will the
car stop before hitting the branch? The car has a mass of
1200 kg.
26. CHALLENGE Isabel pushes a shuffleboard disk, accelerating
it to a speed of 6.5 m/s before releasing it as indicated in
Figure 13. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the disk
and the concrete court is 0.31, how far does the disk travel
before it comes to a stop? Will Isabel’s shot stop in the
10-point section of the board?

1.80 m

3.60 m
0.90 m
Figure 13 0.90 m

SECTION 2 REVIEW Section Self-Check Check your understanding.

27. MAI
MAINN IDEA Compare static friction and kinetic friction. 30. Force The coefficient of static friction between a
How are the frictional forces similar, and how do the 40.0-kg picnic table and the ground below that table
forces differ? is 0.43. How large is the greatest horizontal force that
could be exerted on the table without moving the table?
28. Friction At a wedding reception, you notice a boy who
looks like his mass is about 25 kg running across the 31. Acceleration You push a 13-kg table in the cafeteria
dance floor then sliding on his knees until he stops. If with a horizontal force of 20 N, but the table does not
the coefficient of kinetic friction between the boy’s move. You then push the table with a horizontal force
pants and the floor is 0.15, what is the friction force of 25 N, and it accelerates at 0.26 m/s2. What, if
acting on him as he slides? anything, can you conclude about the coefficients of
static and kinetic friction?
29. Velocity Dinah is playing cards with her friends, and it
is her turn to deal. A card has a mass of 2.3 g, and it 32. Critical Thinking Rachel is moving to a new apart-
slides 0.35 m along the table before it stops. If the ment and puts a dresser in the back of her pickup
coefficient of kinetic friction between the card and the truck. When the truck accelerates forward, what force
table is 0.24, what was the initial speed of the card as it accelerates the dresser? Under what circumstances
left Dinah’s hand? could the dresser slide? In which direction?

Section 2 • Friction 135

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 SECTION 3 Forces in Two Dimensions
PHYSICS The person to the left is riding on a zip line. The tension in the
rope provides the upward force necessary to balance the

4 YOU person’s weight. If the tension in the rope increases, how

would the angle the rope makes with the horizontal change?

Equilibrium Revisited
You have already studied several situations dealing with forces in two
dimensions. For example, when friction acts between two surfaces, you
must take into account both the friction force that is parallel to the
surface and the normal force that is perpendicular to that surface. So far,
you have considered only motion along a horizontal surface. Now you
will analyze situations in which the forces acting on an object are at
angles other than 90°.
Recall that when the net force on an object is zero, the object is in
equilibrium. According to Newton’s laws, the object will not accelerate
because there is no net force acting on it; an object in equilibrium moves
MAIN IDEA with constant velocity. (Remember that staying at rest is a state of
An object is in equilibrium if the net constant velocity.) You have already analyzed several equilibrium
forces in the x-direction and in the situations in which two forces act on an object. It is important to realize
y-direction are zero. that equilibrium can also occur if more than two forces act on an object.
As long as the net force on the object is zero, the object is in equilibrium.
Essential Questions What is the net force acting on the ring in Figure 14? The free-body
• How can you find the force required for diagram in Figure 14 shows the three forces acting on the ring. The ring is
equilibrium? not accelerating, so you know the net force must be zero. The free-body
• How do you resolve force vector diagram, however, does not immediately indicate that the net force is
components for motion along an zero. To find the net force, you must add all the vectors together.
inclined plane? Remember that vectors may be moved if you do not change their direc-
tion (angle) or length. Figure 15 on the next page shows the process of
Review Vocabulary adding the force vectors to discover the net force.
equilibrium the condition in which the
net force on an object is zero

New Vocabulary
equilibrant

(t)RubberBall/SuperStock, (b)Richard Hutchings/Digital Light Source

FA

FC

FB

Figure 14 The ring does not accelerate, so the net force acting on it must be zero.
Compare the vertical component of the force pulling up and to the right to the weight
of the mass hanging from the ring.

136 Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

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 FA FA Figure 15 The forces acting on the ring
sum to a zero net force.
FC
+ + =
FB FB
FC

Equilibrants Figure 15 shows the addition of the three forces, FA , FB, and
FC , acting on the ring. Note that the three vectors form a closed triangle.
The sum FA + FB + FC is zero. Now suppose you have a situation where
two forces are exerted on an object and the sum is not zero, as shown in
the free-body diagram in Figure 16. How could you find a third force that,
when added to the other two, would add up to zero and put the object in
MiniLAB
equilibrium? To find this force, first add the forces already being exerted
EQUILIBRIUM
How can you find the equilibrant of
on the object. This single force that produces the same effect as the two two forces?
or more individual forces together is called the resultant force. In order
to put the object in equilibrium, you must add another force, called the iLab Station
equilibrant, that has the same magnitude as the resultant force but is in
the opposite direction. Notice that in Figure 15 the force FC is the equilibrant
of FA + FB . Figure 16 illustrates the procedure for finding the equilibrant
for two vectors. Note that this general procedure for finding the equili-
brant works for any number of vectors.
READING CHECK Identify the relationship between the equilibrant and the
resultant vector.

Figure 16 The equilibrant is the force

required to put an object in equilibrium.

Free-Body Diagram Resultant Equilibrant

B
A

B R
B
A

-R = Equilibrant
A

+y

4 3
PHYSICS CHALLENGE 2
Find the equilibrant for the entire set of following forces shown in the figure below. 1
F 1 = 61.0 N at 17.0° north of east F 6 = 102.0 N at 15.0° west of south
F 2 = 38.0 N at 64.0° north of east F 7 = 26.0 N south +x
10
F 3 = 54.0 N at 8.0° west of north F 8 = 77.0 N at 22.0° east of south
5 7
F4 = 93.0 N at 53.0° west of north F 9 = 51.0 N at 33.0° east of south 9
F 5 = 65.0 N at 21.0° south of west F 10 = 82.0 N at 5.0° south of east
8

Section 3 • Forces in Two Dimensions 137

0136_0141_C05_S03_659252.indd 137 3/15/11 2:20 PM

 Pictorial Model Motion Diagram Free-Body Diagram
+y
+y
System
Fn
v
Begin
Fnet
+x Ff

a
φ φ +x
End Fg

View an animation of motion along an

Figure 17 The girl’s weight causes her to accelerate down inclined plane.
the slide.
Concepts In Motion
Describe how the component of the girl’s weight parallel
to the incline changes when the angle between the slide and
the horizontal increases. Investigate motion on an inclined plane.
Virtual Investigation

Inclined Planes
You have applied Newton’s laws to a variety of situations but only to
motions that were either horizontal or vertical. How would you apply
Newton’s laws in a situation such as the one in Figure 17, in which you
MiniLAB want to find the net force on the girl?
First, identify the forces acting on the system. In this case, the girl is
FORCES ON A PLANE the system. The gravitational force on the girl is downward, toward the
How does an incline’s angle change
the forces acting on an object on center of Earth. The normal force acts perpendicular to the slide, and the
the plane? kinetic friction force acts parallel to the slide. You can see the resulting
free-body diagram in the final panel of Figure 17. You know from experi-
iLab Station ence that the girl’s acceleration will be along the slide.
Choosing a coordinate system You should next choose your
coordinate system carefully. Because the girl’s acceleration is parallel to
the incline, one axis, the x-axis, should be in that direction. The y-axis is
perpendicular to the x-axis and perpendicular to the incline’s surface.
PhysicsLABs With this coordinate system, you now have two forces, the normal force
SLIDING DOWN A SLOPE and friction force, in the directions of the coordinate axes. The weight,
How does an incline’s slope affect however, has components in both the x- and y-directions. This means
acceleration? that when you place an object on an inclined plane, the magnitude of
the normal force between the object and the plane usually will not equal
FRICTION ON A PLANE the object’s weight.
Probeware Lab When will an object
slide down an inclined plane? READING CHECK Explain why you would choose the x-direction to be paral-
lel to the slope of an inclined plane.
PERPENDICULAR FORCES
How does an object move when You will need to apply Newton’s laws once in the x-direction and
perpendicular forces act on it? once in the y-direction. Because the weight does not point in either of
iLab Station
these directions, you will need to break this vector into its x- and y-
components before you can sum the forces in these two directions.
Example Problem 5 and Example Problem 6 both show this procedure.

138 Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

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 EXAMPLE PROBLEM 5 Get help with components of weight. Personal Tutor

EXAMPLE PR
COMPONENTS OF WEIGHT FOR AN OBJECT ON AN INCLINE A 562-N crate is resting on a
plane inclined 30.0° above the horizontal. Find the components of the crate’s weight that
are parallel and perpendicular to the plane.
+y +x
1 ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM
• Include a coordinate system with the positive x-axis pointing uphill. Fgx
• Draw the free-body diagram showing Fg, the components Fgx and Fgy,
and the angles θ and ϕ. Fgy

ROBLEM
KNOWN UNKNOWN
Fg = 562 N down Fgx = ?
+y +x Fg
ϕ = 30.0° Fgy = ?

θ=?

2 SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN

θ + ϕ = 270°
▼ ▼

The angle from the positive x-axis to the negative y-axis is 270°.
θ = 270° − 30° Substitute ϕ = 30° and rearrange.
= 240°

Fgx = Fg(cos θ)

Substitute Fg = 562 N, θ = 240.0°.

▼

= (562 N)(cos 240.0°)

= −281 N

Fgy = Fg(sin θ)
= (562 N)(sin 240.0°) Substitute Fg = 562 N, θ = 240.0°.
▼

= −487 N

3 EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are the units correct? Force is measured in newtons.
• Do the signs make sense? The components point in directions opposite to the pos-
itive axes.
• Are the magnitudes realistic? The values are less than Fg, as expected.

PRACTICE PROBLEMS Do additional problems. Online Practice

PRACTICE PROBLEMS
33. An ant climbs at a steady speed up the side of its 36. CHALLENGE A suitcase is on an inclined plane as
anthill, which is inclined 30.0° from the vertical. shown in Figure 18. At what angle θ will the compo-
Sketch a free-body diagram for the ant. nent of the suitcase’s weight parallel to the plane be
equal to half the component of its weight perpen-
34. Ryan and Becca are moving a folding table out of the
dicular to the plane?
sunlight. A cup of lemonade, with a mass of 0.44 kg,
is on the table. Becca lifts her end of the table before
Ryan does, and as a result, the table makes an angle
of 15.0° with the horizontal. Find the components of
the cup’s weight that are parallel and perpendicular
to the plane of the table.
35. Fernando, who has a mass of 43.0 kg, slides down
the banister at his grandparents’ house. If the
banister makes an angle of 35.0° with the horizontal, 
what is the normal force between Fernando and the
S

banister? Figure 18

Section 3 • Forces in Two Dimensions 139

0136_0141_C05_S03_659252.indd 139 3/15/11 2:20 PM

 EXAMPLE PROBLEM 6 Find help with isolating a variable. Math Handbook
EXAMPLLE PROBLEM
SLIDE Ichiko, who has a mass of 45 kg, is going down a slide sloped at 27°. The coeffi-
cient of kinetic friction is 0.23. How fast does she slide 1.0 s after starting from rest?

1 ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM

• Establish a coordinate system. +y
• Draw a free-body diagram that shows the forces acting on the girl as she travels FN
down the slide.
• The three forces acting on the girl are the normal force, kinetic friction, and the
girl's weight. Ff
KNOWN UNKNOWN
m = 45 kg ϕ = 27° a=? 27o +x
μk = 0.23 vi = 0.0 m/s vf = ? Fg
t = 1.0 s θ=?

2 SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN

▼ ▼
θ = 270° + ϕ The angle from the positive x-axis to the negative y-axis is 270°.
= 270° + 27° Substitute ϕ = 27°.
= 297°

y-direction:
There is no acceleration in the y-direction, so a y = 0.0 m/s2 .
▼

Fnet, y = may
= 0.0 N
Add forces in the y-direction to find FN.
FN + Fgy = Fnet, y
▼ ▼

FN = −Fgy Substitute Fnet, y = 0.0 N and rearrange.

= −mg(sin θ) Substitute Fgy = mg sin θ.

x-direction:
Use the net force in the x-direction and Newton’s second law to solve for a.
Fnet, x = Fgx − Ff
▼ ▼ ▼

F f is negative because it is in the negative x-direction.

max = mg(cos θ) − μk FN Substitute Fnet, x = max, Fgx = mg cos θ, F f = μk F N.
ma= mg(cos θ) + μk mg(sin θ) Substitute ax = a (all acceleration is in the x-direction), F N = −mg sin θ.
a = g(cos θ + μk sin θ)
= (9.8 m/s2)(cos 297° + (0.23)sin 297°) Substitute g = 9.8 m/s2 , θ = 297°, μk = 0.23.
▼

= 2.4 m/s2

Because vi , a, and t are all known, use the relationship between velocity, accelera-
tion, and time.
vf = vi + at
= 0.0 m/s + (2.4 m/s2)(1.0 s) Substitute v i = 0.0 m/s, a = 2.4 m/s2 , t = 1.0 s.
▼

= 2.4 m/s

3 EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are the units correct? Performing dimensional analysis on the units verifies that vf
is in m/s and a is in m/s2.
• Do the signs make sense? Because vf and a are both in the +x direction, the signs
do make sense.
• Are the magnitudes realistic? The velocity is similar to a person’s running speed,
which is realistic for a steep slide and a low coefficient of kinetic friction.

140 Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

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 PRACTICE PROBLEMS Do additional problems. Online Practice

PRACTICE PROBLEMS
37. Consider the crate on the incline in Example Problem 5. Calculate the magnitude of
the acceleration. After 4.00 s, how fast will the crate be moving?
38. Jorge decides to try the slide discussed in Example Problem 6. Jorge’s trip down
the slide is quite different from Ichiko’s. After giving himself a push to get started,
Jorge slides at a constant speed. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction between
Jorge’s pants and the slide?
39. Stacie, who has a mass of 45 kg, starts down a slide that is inclined at an angle of
45° with the horizontal. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between Stacie’s shorts
and the slide is 0.25, what is her acceleration?
40. CHALLENGE You stack two physics books on top of each other as shown in
Figure 19. You tilt the bottom book until the top book just begins to slide. You
perform five trials and measure the angles given in Table 3.

PH Table 3 Trial Number and Angle of Tilt

S
E

YS
CO
EN

PR
GL

IN
CIP

IC
LE
S&
PR

S
O

ϕ
BL
EM
S
Trial
1 21°

2 17°
ϕ
3 21°

4 18°

5 19°
Figure 19

a. What is the average ϕ measured during the five trials?

b. What is the coefficient of static friction between the covers of the two books?
Use the average ϕ found in part a.
c. You measure the top book’s acceleration down the incline to be 1.3 m/s2. What is
the coefficient of kinetic friction? Assume ϕ is the average value found in part a.

SECTION 3 REVIEW Section Self-Check Check your understanding.

41. MAI
MAINN IDEA A rope pulls a 63-kg water skier up a 14.0° 45. Equilibrium You are hanging a painting using two
incline with a tension of 512 N. The coefficient of lengths of wire. The wires will break if the force is too
kinetic friction between the skier and the ramp is 0.27. great. Should you hang the painting as shown in the
What are the magnitude and direction of the skier’s top or the bottom image of Figure 20? Explain.
acceleration?
42. Forces One way to get a car unstuck is to tie one end
of a strong rope to the car and the other end to a tree,
then pull the rope at its midpoint at right angles to the
rope. Draw a free-body diagram and explain how even
a small force on the rope can exert a large force on
the car.
43. Mass A large scoreboard is suspended from the ceiling
of a sports arena by ten strong cables. Six of the
cables make an angle of 8.0° with the verticals while
the other four make an angle of 10.0°. If the tension in
each cable is 1300 N, what is the scoreboard’s mass? Figure 20
44. Vector Addition What is the sum of three vectors that,
when placed tip to tail, form a triangle? If these vectors 46. Critical Thinking Can the coefficient of friction ever
represent forces on an object, what does this imply about have a value such that a child would be able to slide
the object? Describe the motion resulting from these up a slide at a constant velocity? Explain why or why
three forces acting on the object. not. Assume that no one pushes or pulls on the child.

Section 3 • Forces in Two Dimensions 141

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 Out on a Limb
Have you ever heard the saying,
“What goes up must come down”?
Architects rely on a thorough
understanding of forces to make
sure that buildings and other
structures stay up.
Balanced forces You may recall that an object
accelerates because of a net force acting on it. But
just because an object isn’t moving doesn’t mean
forces aren’t acting on it. When an object is at rest,
the forces acting on the object are balanced.
For example, at this very moment the gravitational
force is pulling you down. At the same time, this
gravitational force is balanced by the normal force
from your chair pushing up against you. Because
these forces are balanced, there is no net force and
you do not accelerate. When designing a building,
bridge, or other structure, an architect must make
sure that the gravitational force is properly balanced
by other forces.
Cantilevers Have you ever stood on a balcony such
as the one shown in Figure 1? With nothing pushing
up from below to balance the gravitational force, why
doesn’t it fall? A cantilever is a beam that is
supported on only one end. The weight of the
cantilever must be balanced by forces exerted by
the rest of the structure.

FIGURE 1 These people are looking out from one of the

cantilevers on the Willis Tower in Chicago.

Michael Weber/age fotostock

Research how forces are distributed in a catenary arch,

such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Create a
poster that shows the forces throughout the arch.

142 Chapter 5 • Displacement and Force in Two Dimensions

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 CHAPTER 5 STUDY GUIDE Forces in two dimensions can be described using vector addition
and vector resolution.

VOCABULARY SECTION 1 Vectors

• components (p. 125)
• vector resolution (p. 125) MAIN IDEA All vectors can be broken into x- and y-components.
• Vectors are added graphically by placing the tail of the second vector on the tip of the first
vector. The resultant is the vector pointing from the tail of the first vector to the tip of the
final vector.
• The components of a vector are projections of the component vectors onto axes. Vectors can
be summed by separately adding the x- and y-components.

+y +y +y

R = √R

2 2
x + Ry

C Cy Cy

B Cx By R Ry
By
Bx
A
Ay Ay

Ax +x Ax Bx Cx +x Rx +x

• When two vectors are at right angles, you can use the Pythagorean theorem to determine the
magnitude of the resultant vector. The law of cosines and the law of sines can be used to find
the resultant of any two vectors.

VOCABULARY SECTION 2 Friction

• kinetic friction (p. 130)
• static friction (p. 130) MAIN IDEA Friction is a type of force between two touching surfaces.
• coefficient of kinetic friction • Friction is a force that acts parallel to the surfaces when two surfaces touch.
(p. 131)
• The kinetic friction force is equal to the coefficient of kinetic friction times the normal force.
• coefficient of static friction
(p. 132) The static friction force is less than or equal to the coefficient of static friction times the
normal force.
Ff,kinetic = μkFN
Ff,static ≤ μ sFN

VOCABULARY SECTION 3 Forces in Two Dimensions

• equilibrant (p. 137) An object is in equilibrium if the net forces in the x-direction and in the
MAIN IDEA y-direction are zero.
• The equilibrant is a force of the same magnitude but opposite direction as the sum of all the
other forces acting on an object.
• Friction forces are parallel to an inclined plane but point up the plane if the motion of the
object is down the plane. An object on an inclined plane has a component of the force of
gravity parallel to the plane; this component can accelerate the object down the plane.

Games and Multilingual eGlossary

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 CHAPTER 5 ASSESSMENT Chapter Self-Check

SECTION 1 Vectors 58. Graphically add the following sets of vectors shown
in Figure 21.
Mastering Concepts
a. A, C, and D
47. BIGIDEA
BI How would you add two vectors b. A, B, and E
graphically?
c. B, D, and F
48. Which of the following actions is permissible when
you graphically add one vector to another: moving 59. Ranking Task Rank the following according to the
the vector, rotating the vector, or changing the vec- magnitude of the net force, from least to greatest.
tor’s length? Specifically indicate any ties.
A. 20 N up + 10 N down
49. In your own words, write a clear definition of the
resultant of two or more vectors. Do not explain B. 20 N up + 10 N left
how to find it; explain what it represents. C. 20 N up + 10 N up
D. 20 N up + 10 N 20° below the horizontal
50. How is the resultant displacement affected when
two displacement vectors are added in a different order? E. 20 N up

51. Explain the method you would use to subtract two 60. You walk 30 m south and 30 m east. Find the mag-
vectors graphically. nitude and direction of the resultant displacement
both graphically and algebraically.
52. Explain the difference between A and A.
61. A hiker’s trip consists of three segments. Path A is
53. The Pythagorean theorem usually is written 8.0 km long heading 60.0° north of east. Path B is
c2 = a2 + b2. If this relationship is used in vector 7.0 km long in a direction due east. Path C is 4.0 km
addition, what do a, b, and c represent? long heading 315° counterclockwise from east.
54. When using a coordinate system, how is the angle or a. Graphically add the hiker’s displacements in the
direction of a vector determined with respect to the order A, B, C.
axes of the coordinate system? b. Graphically add the hiker’s displacements in the
order C, B, A.
Mastering Problems
c. What can you conclude about the resulting
55. Cars A car moves 65 km due east then 45 km due displacements?
west. What is its total displacement?
62. Two forces are acting on the ring in Figure 22. What is
56. Find the horizontal and vertical components of the the net force acting on the ring?
following vectors shown in Figure 21. In all cases,
assume that up and right are positive directions.
+y
a. E
500.0 N 400.0 N
b. F
c. A

40.0° 50.0°
B(3.0) A(3.0) +x
E(5.0)
Figure 22

63. Space Exploration A descent vehicle landing on Mars

F(5.0)
C(6.0) D(4.0) has a vertical velocity toward the surface of Mars
of 5.5 m/s. At the same time, it has a horizontal
Figure 21 velocity of 3.5 m/s.
a. At what speed does the vehicle move along its
57. Graphically find the sum of the following pairs of descent path?
vectors, shown in Figure 21.
b. At what angle with the vertical is this path?
a. D and A c. C and A c. If the vehicle is 230 m above the surface, how
b. C and D d. E and F long until it reaches the surface?

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 Chapter Self-Check

64. Three forces are acting on the ring in Figure 23. What 72. Moving Appliances Your family just had a new refrig-
is the net force acting on the ring? erator delivered. The delivery man has left and you
realize that the refrigerator is not quite in the right
+y position, so you plan to move it several centimeters.
If the refrigerator has a mass of 88 kg, the coefficient
128 N of kinetic friction between the bottom of the refrig-
erator and the floor is 0.13, and the static coefficient
of friction between these same surfaces is 0.21, how
128 N 30.0° hard do you have to push horizontally to get the
64 N +x refrigerator to start moving?

Figure 23 73. Stopping at a Red Light You are driving a 1200.0-kg

car at a constant speed of 14.0 m/s along a straight,
65. A Ship at Sea A ship at sea is due into a port 500.0 km level road. As you approach an intersection, the
due south in two days. However, a severe storm comes traffic light turns red. You slam on the brakes.
in and blows it 100.0 km due east from its original The car’s wheels lock, the tires begin skidding, and
position. How far is the ship from its destination? In the car slides to a halt in a distance of 25.0 m. What
what direction must it travel to reach its destination? is the coefficient of kinetic friction between your
tires and the road?
66. Navigation Alfredo leaves camp and, using a compass,
walks 4 km E, then 6 km S, 3 km E, 5 km N, 10 km SECTION 3 Forces in Two Dimensions
W, 8 km N, and, finally, 3 km S. At the end of two Mastering Concepts
days, he is planning his trip back. By drawing a dia-
gram, compute how far Alfredo is from camp and 74. Describe a coordinate system that would be suitable
which direction he should take to get back to camp. for dealing with a problem in which a ball is thrown
up into the air.

75. If a coordinate system is set up such that the positive

SECTION 2 Friction x-axis points in a direction 30° above the horizontal,
Mastering Concepts what should be the angle between the x-axis and the
y-axis? What should be the direction of the positive
67. What is the meaning of a coefficient of friction that
y-axis?
is greater than 1.0? How would you measure it?
76. Explain how you would set up a coordinate system
68. Cars Using the model of friction described in this for motion on a hill.
textbook, would the friction between a tire and the
road be increased by a wide rather than a narrow 77. If your textbook is in equilibrium, what can you say
tire? Explain. Assume the tires have the same mass . about the forces acting on it?
78. Can an object that is in equilibrium be moving?
Mastering Problems Explain.
69. If you use a horizontal force of 30.0 N to slide a
79. You are asked to analyze the motion of a book
12.0-kg wooden crate across a floor at a constant
placed on a sloping table.
velocity, what is the coefficient of kinetic friction
between the crate and the floor? a. Describe the best coordinate system for analyzing
the motion.
70. A 225-kg crate is pushed horizontally with a force of b. How are the components of the weight of the
710 N. If the coefficient of friction is 0.20, calculate book related to the angle of the table?
the acceleration of the crate.
80. For a book on a sloping table, describe what happens
71. A force of 40.0 N accelerates a 5.0-kg block at to the component of the weight force parallel to the
6.0 m/s2 along a horizontal surface. table and the force of friction on the book as you
a. What would the block's acceleration be if the sur- increase the angle the table makes with the horizontal.
face were frictionless? a. Which components of force(s) increase when the
b. How large is the kinetic friction force? angle increases?
c. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction? b. Which components of force(s) decrease?

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 ASSESSMENT
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Mastering Problems 86. Emergency Room You are job-shadowing a nurse in

the emergency room of a local hospital. An orderly
81. An object in equilibrium has three forces exerted on wheels in a patient who has been in a very serious
it. A 33.0-N force acts at 90.0° from the x-axis, and a accident and has had severe bleeding. The nurse
44.0-N force acts at 60.0° from the x-axis. Both quickly explains to you that in a case like this, the
angles are measured counterclockwise from the pos- patient’s bed will be tilted with the head downward
itive x-axis. What are the magnitude and the direc- to make sure the brain gets enough blood. She tells
tion of the third force? you that, for most patients, the largest angle that the
82. Five forces act on the object in Figure 24: (1) 60.0 N bed can be tilted without the patient beginning to
at 90.0°, (2) 40.0 N at 0.0°, (3) 80.0 N at 270.0°, (4) slide off is 45.0° from the horizontal.
40.0 N at 180.0°, and (5) 50.0 N at 60.0°. What are a. On what factor or factors does this angle of tilting
the magnitude and the direction of a sixth force that depend?
would produce equilibrium? b. Find the coefficient of static friction between a
+y
typical patient and the bed’s sheets.
1
87. Two blocks are connected by a string over a friction-
5
less, massless pulley such that one is resting on an
60.0 N inclined plane and the other is hanging over the top
50.0 N
edge of the plane, as shown in Figure 26. The hang-
4 2
ing block has a mass of 16.0 kg, and the one on the
40.0 N 40.0 N +x
plane has a mass of 8.0 kg. The coefficient of kinetic
friction between the block and the inclined plane is
80.0 N 0.23. The blocks are released from rest.
a. What is the acceleration of the blocks?
b. What is the tension in the string connecting
Figure 24 3
the blocks?

83. Advertising Joe wishes to hang a sign weighing

7.50×102 N so that cable A, attached to the store,
makes a 30.0° angle, as shown in Figure 25. Cable B
is horizontal and attached to an adjoining building.
What is the tension in cable B?

30.0°
37.0°
A

Figure 26
B
88. In Figure 27, a block of mass M is pushed with a force
(F) such that the smaller block of mass m does not
slide down the front of it. There is no friction
Figure 25 between the larger block and the surface below it,
but the coefficient of static friction between the two
84. A street lamp weighs 150 N. It is supported by two blocks is μs. Find an expression for F in terms of M,
wires that form an angle of 120.0° with each other. m, μs, and g.
The tensions in the wires are equal.
a. What is the tension in each wire?
m
b. If the angle between the wires supporting the F
street lamp is reduced to 90.0°, what is the ten- M
sion in each wire?
85. A 215-N box is placed on an incline that makes a
35.0° angle with the horizontal. Find the compo-
nent of the weight parallel to the incline. Figure 27

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 Chapter Self-Check

Applying
pp y g Co
Concepts
cepts 99. The weight of a book on an inclined plane can be
resolved into two vector components, one along the
89. A vector that is 1 cm long represents a displacement plane and the other perpendicular to it.
of 5 km. How many kilometers are represented by a a. At what angle are the components equal?
3-cm vector drawn to the same scale?
b. At what angle is the parallel component equal
90. A vector drawn 15 mm long represents a velocity of to zero?
30 m/s. How long should you draw a vector to repre-
100. TV Towers A TV station's transmitting tower is held
sent a velocity of 20 m/s?
upright by guy wires that extend from the ground to
91. What is the largest possible net displacement result- the top of the tower at an angle of 67° above the hor-
ing from two displacements with magnitudes 3 m izontal. The force along the guy wires can be resolved
and 4 m? What is the smallest possible resultant? into perpendicular and parallel components with
Draw sketches to demonstrate your answers. respect to the ground. Which one is larger?

92. How does the resultant displacement change as the

angle between two vectors increases from 0° to 180°? Mixed Review
93. A and B are two sides of a right triangle, where 101. The scale in Figure 28 is being pulled on by three
tan θ = _
A. ropes. What net force does the scale read?
B
a. Which side of the triangle is longer if tan θ is
greater than 1.0?
b. Which side is longer if tan θ is less than 1.0?
c. What does it mean if tan θ is equal to 1.0?
94. Traveling by Car A car has a velocity of 50 km/h in a
direction 60° north of east. A coordinate system
27.0° 27.0°
with the positive x-axis pointing east and a positive
y-axis pointing north is chosen. Which component
of the velocity vector is larger, x or y?
95. Under what conditions can the Pythagorean theo-
rem, rather than the law of cosines, be used to find
the magnitude of a resultant vector? 75.0 N 75.0 N

96. A problem involves a car moving up a hill, so a coor- 150.0 N

dinate system is chosen with the positive x-axis par- Figure 28
allel to the surface of the hill. The problem also
involves a stone that is dropped onto the car. Sketch 102. Mythology Sisyphus was a character in Greek
the problem and show the components of the veloc- mythology who was doomed in Hades to push a
ity vector of the stone. boulder to the top of a steep mountain. When he
97. Pulling a Cart According to legend, a horse learned reached the top, the boulder would slide back
Newton’s laws. When the horse was told to pull a down the mountain and he would have to start all
cart, it refused, saying that if it pulled the cart for- over again. Assume that Sisyphus slides the boulder
ward, according to Newton’s third law, there would up the mountain without being able to roll it, even
be an equal force backwards. Thus, there would be though in most versions of the myth, he rolled it.
balanced forces, and, according to Newton’s second a. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the
law, the cart would not accelerate. How would you boulder and the mountainside is 0.40, the mass
reason with this horse? of the boulder is 20.0 kg, and the slope of the
mountain is a constant 30.0°, what is the force
98. Tennis When stretching a tennis net between two that Sisyphus must exert on the boulder to move
posts, it is relatively easy to pull one end of the net it up the mountain at a constant velocity?
hard enough to remove most of the slack, but you b. Sisyphus pushes the boulder at a velocity of
need a winch to take the last bit of slack out of the 0.25 m/s and it takes him 8.0 h to reach the top
net to make the top almost completely horizontal. of the mountain, what is the mythical moun-
Why is this true? tain’s vertical height?

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 ASSESSMENT
Chapter Self-Check

103. Landscaping A tree is being transported on a flat- 107. Reverse Problem Write a physics problem with
bed trailer by a landscaper. If the base of the tree real-life objects for which the Figure 29 would be
slides on the trailer, the tree will fall over and be part of the solution.
damaged. The coefficient of static friction between
the tree and the trailer is 0.50. The truck's initial +y
speed is 55 km/h.
a. The truck must come to a stop at a traffic light FNormal
without the tree sliding forward and falling on
the trailer. What is the maximum possible accel-
eration the truck can experience? FKinetic friction
b. What is the truck's minimum stopping distance 20° +x
if the truck accelerates uniformly at the maxi- F
mum acceleration calculated in part a?
Fg

Thinking Critically
104. Use Models Using the Example Problems in this Figure 29
chapter as models, write an example problem to
solve the following problem. Include the following
sections: Analyze and Sketch the Problem, Solve for Writing in Physics
the Unknown (with a complete strategy), and 108. Investigate some of the techniques used in industry
Evaluate the Answer. A driver of a 975-kg car travel- to reduce the friction between various parts of
ing 25 m/s puts on the brakes. What is the shortest machines. Describe two or three of these techniques
distance it will take for the car to stop if the coeffi- and explain the physics of how they work.
cient of kinetic friction is 0.65? Assume that the
force of friction of the road on the tires is constant 109. Olympics In recent years, many Olympic athletes,
and the tires do not slip. such as sprinters, swimmers, skiers, and speed skat-
ers, have used modified equipment to reduce the
105. Analyze and Conclude Margaret Mary, Doug, and effects of friction and air or water drag. Research a
Kako are at a local amusement park and see an piece of equipment used by one of these types of
attraction called the Giant Slide, which is simply a athletes and the way it has changed over the years.
very long and high inclined plane. Visitors at the Explain how physics has impacted these changes.
amusement park climb a long flight of steps to the
top of the 27° inclined plane and are given canvas
sacks. They sit on the sacks and slide down the
70-m-long plane. At the time when the three Cumulative Review
friends walk past the slide, a 135-kg man and a 110. Perform the indicated addition, subtraction, multi-
20-kg boy are each at the top preparing to slide plication, or division and state the answer with the
down. “I wonder how much less time it will take correct number of significant digits.
the man to slide down than it will take the boy,”
a. 85.26 g + 4.7 g
says Margaret Mary. “I think the boy will take less
time,” says Doug. “You’re both wrong,” says Kako. b. 1.07 km + 0.608 km
“They will reach the bottom at the same time.” c. 186.4 kg − 57.83 kg
a. Perform the appropriate analysis to determine d. (1.26 kg)(9.8 N/kg)
who is correct.
b. If the man and the boy do not take the same e. _
10 m
4.5 s
amount of time to reach the bottom of the slide,
calculate how many seconds of difference there 111. You ride your bike for 1.5 h at an average velocity of
will be between the two times. 10 km/h, then for 30 min at 15 km/h. What is your
average velocity?
106. Problem Posing Complete this problem so it can be
solved using two-dimensional vector addition: “Jeff 112. A 45-N force is exerted in the upward direction on
is cleaning his room when he finds his favorite bas- a 2.0-kg briefcase. What is the acceleration of the
ketball card under his bed …” briefcase?

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 CHAPTER 5 STANDARDIZED TEST PRACTICE
MULTIPLE CHOICE 6. What is the y-component of a 95.3-N force that is
exerted at 57.1° to the horizontal?
1. What is the term used to describe a force that equals A. 51.8 N C. 114 N
the sum of two or more forces?
B. 80.0 N D. 175 N
A. equilibrant C. resultant force
B. normal force D. tension force 7. As shown in the figure below, a string exerts a force of
18 N on a box at an angle of 34° from the horizon-
2. For a winter fair, some students decide to build tal. What is the horizontal component of the force on
30.0-kg wooden pull carts on sled skids. If two the box?
90.0-kg passengers get in, how much force will the A. 10 N C. 21.7 N
puller have to exert to move a pull cart? The coeffi-
cient of maximum static friction between the sled B. 15 N D. 32 N
skids and the road is 0.15. F
A. 1.8×102 N C. 2.1×103 N 34°
B. 3.1×102 N D. 1.4×104 N

3. It takes a minimum force of 280 N to move a 50.0-kg

crate. What is the coefficient of maximum static fric-
tion between the crate and the floor?
A. 0.18 C. 1.8 8. Sukey is riding her bicycle on a path when she comes
around a corner and sees that a fallen tree is blocking
B. 0.57 D. 5.6
the way 42 m ahead. If the coefficient of friction
4. Two tractors in the figure below pull against a between her bicycle’s tires and the gravel path is
1.00×103-kg log. If the angle of the tractors’ chains in 0.36 and she is traveling at 25.0 km/h, how much
relation to each other is 18.0° and each tractor pulls stopping distance will she require? Sukey and her
with a force of 8×102 N, how large is the force exerted bicycle, together, have a mass of 95 kg.
by the tractors on the log? A. 3.0 m C. 6.8 m
A. 250 N C. 1.58×103 N B. 4.5 m D. 9.8 m
B. 7.90×102 N D. 9.80×103 N
FREE RESPONSE
9.0° 9. A man starts from a position 310 m north of his car
1.00×103 kg 9.0° and walks for 2.7 min in a westward direction at a
constant velocity of 10 km/h. How far is he from his
car when he stops?
10. Jeeves is tired of his 41.2-kg son sliding down the
5. An airplane pilot tries to fly directly east with a veloc- banister, so he decides to apply an extremely sticky
ity of 800.0 km/h. If a wind comes from the south- paste to the top of the banister. The paste increases
west at 80.0 km/h, what is the relative velocity of the the coefficient of static friction to 0.72. What will be
airplane to the surface of Earth? the magnitude of the static friction force on the boy
A. 804 km/h, 5.7° N of E if the banister is at an angle of 52.4° from the
horizontal?
B. 858 km/h, 3.8° N of E
C. 859 km/h, 4.0° N of E
D. 880 km/h, 45° N of E

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