Magnitude of the normal force

Question

A 32.7 kg crate rests on a horizontal floor, and a 77.3 kg person is standing on the crate. Determine the magnitude of the normal force that the floor exerts on the crate.

Answer 1

The normal force, acting perpendicular to a surface, supports the weight of an object by exerting an upward force to counteract gravity's downward pull.

In this problem, we'll be determining the normal force acting on an object using Newton's second law

F=ma.

Given in the problem are two masses: 32.7 kg and 77.3 kg. To find the total mass, we need to add these together.

32.7kg+77.3kg = 110kg.

In this scenario, the acceleration due to gravity is constant at 9.8 m/s²

We'll now apply Newton's second law by multiplying the total mass by the acceleration due to gravity to find the total force acting on the objects.

F = 110kg × 9.8m/s² = 1078N

The answer is expressed in units of Newtons (N) because force is measured in Newtons.

So, the normal force acting on the objects is 1078N.