Question

Two boxes (24 kg and 62 kg) are being pushed across a horizontal frictionless surface, as the drawing shows. The 42-N pushing force is horizontal and is applied to the 24-kg box, which in turn pushes against the 62-kg box. Find the magnitude of the force that the 24-kg box applies to the 62-kg box.

Answer 1

30.256 N

Step-by-step explanation:

m = 24 kg

M = 62 kg

F = 42 N

Le a be the acceleration in the system and f be the contact force between both the blocks.

Use Newton's second law

F - f = m a ..... (1)

f = M a .... (2)

Adding both the equations

F = (m + M) a

42 = (62 + 24) a

a = 0.488 m/s^2

Put the value of a in equation (2), we get

f = 62 x 0.488 = 30.256 N