A uniform cube is held on an inclined place, which makes an angle of with the horizontal.
The surface of the inclined plane is rough, and the coefficient of friction between the cube and the plane is .
What happens to the cube after it is released from rest?
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
Since, the coefficient of friction μ is greater than tan A , and so, by multiplying M g cos A on both the sides, we can write:
μ M g cos A ≥ M g sin A
which implies that the object won't slide down the plane.
Now, for the remaining two options, if we try and find the clockwise torque about the poinr of contact, O , we can write, τ C W = 2 a M g sin A , and the anticlockwise torque can be written as τ A C W = 2 a M g cos A , where a is the edge length of the cube.
Since A is greater than 4 5 ∘ , so, sin A ≥ cos A , and as a result τ C W ≥ τ A C W , which causes the cube to topple about this point.