Ladder on the Wall

In the image above we have a ladder that is resting with the bottom end on the floor and the top end against the wall. The ladder is homogeneous in a way that its mass is equally distributed in through its structure. The coefficient of static friction between the ladder and the floor and wall is μ = 0.4 \mu=0.4 . What is the maximum angle θ \theta (degrees) it can makes with the wall without slipping?

41.404 ° 41.404° 45.223 ° 45.223° 42.066 ° 42.066° 43.602 ° 43.602°

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1 solution

Karan Chatrath
Dec 15, 2019

The diagram above indicates the forces acting on the system while in stasis. The point B is the midpoint between points A and C. In the following equations above, M B M_B indicates moment about point B. Let the length of the rod be L L

F h o r i z o n t a l = 0 μ N 1 N 2 = 0 \sum F_{horizontal} = 0 \implies \mu N_1 - N_2 = 0 F v e r t i c a l = 0 μ N 2 + N 1 = W \sum F_{vertical} = 0 \implies \mu N_2 + N_1 = W M B = 0 ( N 2 cos θ + μ N 2 sin θ ) L 2 = ( N 1 sin θ μ N 1 cos θ ) L 2 N 2 N 1 = tan ( θ arctan ( μ ) ) \sum M_B = 0 \implies \left(N_2\cos{\theta} +\mu N_2\sin{\theta}\right) \frac{L}{2}=\left(N_1\sin{\theta} -\mu N_1\cos{\theta}\right) \frac{L}{2} \implies \frac{N_2}{N_1} = \tan\left(\theta - \arctan(\mu)\right)

So three equations with three unknowns N 1 N_1 , N 2 N_2 and θ \theta can be easily solved giving the answer as:

θ = 2 arctan ( μ ) \boxed{\theta = 2\arctan(\mu)}

Note: arctan [ . ] \arctan[.] is the inverse tangent function.

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