I am trying to find the work done by the frictional force on an object and am having a little trouble coming up with a correct answer... I am given acceleration = 2.80m/s^2, mass=58kg, distance = 10m, and a horizontal force of 226N...Can I simply use the work-energy theorem to solve or is it more complicated than that?

Question

I am trying to find  the work done by the frictional force on an object and am having a little trouble coming up with a correct answer...  I am given acceleration = 2.80m/s^2, mass=58kg, distance = 10m, and a horizontal force of 226N...Can I simply use the work-energy theorem to solve or is it more complicated than that?

anonymous · Answer

you need to find what the final speed should have been by using kinematics formulas, then find what the final speed is using work-kinetic energy. Calculate the difference in th change in Kinetic Energy of the two. The difference is the energy lost to friction (work done by the frictional force)...

anonymous · Answer

or you could look at it like Fnet = ma... where Fnet = 226N - Fk and a = 2 m/s^2 to get Fk, then calculate the work -- easier