I am stuck in this question. Please help!!
Three identical cylinders are arranged in a triangle(one lying on top of the other two and all 3 are in contact), with the bottom two lying on the ground.The ground and the cylinders are frictionless. You apply a constant horizontal force (directed to the right) on the left cylinder. Let a be the acceleration you give to the system. For what range of a will all three cylinders remain in contact with each other ?
Easy Math Editor
This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.
When posting on Brilliant:
*italics*
or_italics_
**bold**
or__bold__
paragraph 1
paragraph 2
[example link](https://brilliant.org)
> This is a quote
\(
...\)
or\[
...\]
to ensure proper formatting.2 \times 3
2^{34}
a_{i-1}
\frac{2}{3}
\sqrt{2}
\sum_{i=1}^3
\sin \theta
\boxed{123}
Comments
At the time when the upper cylinder just leaves the contact with the bottom cylinder.
N Sin60 = mg;
N cos60 = ma;
a = g cot60 = g 31
@satvik pandey @Kushal Patankar please help!!
Log in to reply
Hi Nikhil!
It's is obvious that the cylinder at the top will first loose contact with cylinder at right. The moment it looses contact with that the normal force acting between them would be zero. If we consider a frame of reference which is moving with the CoM of the sytem then pseudo force on top cylinder is ma.
So
N1cos(30)=mg....(1)
and N1sin(30)=ma......(2)
Solving this we get a value of ,say a0. So the cylinders would loose contact for all accelerations greater than a0.
Log in to reply
Hi Satvik, Can you tell me how you draw the diagram and upload it..??
Log in to reply
First upload the diagram on imgur. Then type:
! [ anything] ( url of the image). Without spaces. :)
Log in to reply
Log in to reply
Thanks a lot @satvik pandey !!
Log in to reply
were you doing david-morin at that time ?