Question

A 40 kg crate is on a rough horizontal surface. I push the block horizontally with a 127 N force but the crate remains stationary. What is the magnitude of the friction force between the crate and the surface? Express your answer in newtons and round to one decimal place.

Answer 1

We know that the friction force is self adjusting force which means that it goes on increasing with the applied external force inthe reverse direction until a certain value after which it becomes constant and the object comes into motion.

Here the external force applied is 127 N, this implies that for the crate to stay at rest the friction force acting on also has a magnitude of 127N but opposite to the direction of external force.

Hence, the magnitude of friction force is 127.0 N