Unit 3

Lesson 6

Consolidation and Application 

Part C: Unit 3 Dynamics Problem Set 

1. The Russell traction apparatus is used for a fractured femur. When the femur is healing, the
muscles of the upper leg tend to pull the two sections of the femur together, which could result in
a shortened leg after healing. The Russell apparatus provides a force parallel to the femur that
prevents contraction of the femur. The sling supports the weight of the lower leg.
(a) Find the magnitude and direction of the horizontal force on the leg (i.e., the sole of the foot).
(4 marks)
(b) To adjust the size of this force, the angles at the pulley on the foot can be changed. Would the
angles be made larger or smaller, to decrease the force on the leg? Explain your reasoning. (2
marks)
(c) Why are the angles kept equal, as shown? (1 mark)

 2. Three books rest horizontally on a table as pictured below. What forces does the middle book
exert on each of the other two? Be specific in expressing your answers. (4 marks)
  

 3. Three children are playing in the snow with a sleigh. One child exerts a maximum force of 40
N and another 58 N, on ropes, to just get the sleigh to move with the third child seated in it. The
angles the horizontal ropes make with the direction of travel are 30° and 20°, respectively. If the
combined mass of the seated child and the sleigh is 75 kg, and the sleigh moves in a straight line,
what is the coefficient of friction between the sleigh and the snow? (5 marks)

4.  A piece of ice (m = 500.0 g) slides down the slope of a roof inclined at 50.0°. It starts from
rest and slides 8.0 m along the roof, sliding off the edge at a height of 4.0 m above the level
ground. The coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.14.

(a) Draw a free-body diagram of the ice as it is sliding along the roof. (2 marks)
(b) With what speed does it leave the roof? (5 marks)
(c) How far away from the foot of the building does the ice land? (5 marks)

 
5. Two masses, 4.0 kg and 6.0 kg, are connected by a “massless” rope over a “frictionless”
pulley as pictured in the diagram. The ramp is inclined at 30.0º and the coefficient of kinetic
friction on the ramp is 0.18.

(a) Draw free-body diagrams of both masses. (2 marks)

(b) Determine the acceleration of the system once it begins to slide. (4 marks)
(c) Determine the tension in the rope. (4 marks)
(d) If the rope breaks when the 4.0-kg mass is 3.0 m from the bottom of the ramp, how long will
it take for the mass to slide all the way down? Include a new free-body diagram and assume the
sliding mass starts from rest.(4 marks)