A scientific sensor module AAA, of mass 1.5 kg, is positioned on a rough track inclined at an angle α \alpha\,α to the horizontal, where sinα=0.6\sin\alpha = 0.6sinα=0.6. A light, inextensible cable is fastened to A A\,A and runs parallel to the line of greatest slope until it passes over a smooth fixed pulley at the top of the track. The other end of the cable is connected to a weighted canister BBB, of mass 8.5 kg, which is suspended vertically so that the cable is taut.
The system is released from rest and B B\,B descends vertically with an acceleration of 0.7g ms-2. Show that the coefficient of friction, μ\muμ, between A A\,A and the track is 0.5.
In this part of the question use g=9.8 ms−2g = 9.8 \text{ ms}^{-2}g=9.8 ms−2. At the instant the speed of the sensor module A A\,A reaches 4.2 ms-1, the cable snaps. (i) Calculate the distance travelled by A A\,A from the moment the cable snaps until it first comes to instantaneous rest. (ii) Suggest one physical factor omitted from this model that could influence the calculated distance.
