Motion in 1&2 D - Newton's laws

[Juddinator]

Hi guys, I'm looking to hit the ground running hard in physics by getting started on some of the work. I really want to set myself up well for the rest of the year by starting this early.

I'm having some difficulty adapting formulas for questions in this topic. An example of a question is: A mascot in a car hangs vertically when the car is moving with a uniform velocity along a straight level road. The brakes are applied so that the car is stopped with a uniform retardation. The mascot is deflected through an angle of 10°. What is the acceleration of the car while it is coming to rest?

Cheers

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In problems like this where you have to analyze forces, it's best to draw a free-body diagram, i.e. a diagram that shows all the forces on the object, which in this case is the mascot.

Once you have all the forces, ( and in this case) componentize them so that they are facing in the directions you want.

Since the mascot is not moving vertically,



Since the mascot is decelerating, we also have



This will allow you to solve for a.

[Juddinator]

Sweet thanks man! What you said makes perfect sense

Much appreciated