Question

Please help me!! Renee is on Spring Break and pulling her 21-kg suitcase through the airport at a constant speed of 0.47 m/s. She pulls on the strap with 120 N of force at an angle of 38 degrees above the hirizontal. Determine the normal force and the total resistance force (friction and air resistance) experienced by the suitcase.

Answer 1

normal force = 131.92N
Total resistance force = 94.56N

since the suitcase is not accelerating the total forces must balance, so the resistance force is = to the horizontal component of her pulling force, use trig to work it out

you can work out the force due to gravity (F=mg) of the suitcase, and subtract the vertical component of her pulling to work out the normal force