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Unread 01-01-2009, 13:43
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Mentor to China FTC/FLL, FRC1230
AKA: Evan Weinberg
FRC #1230
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Hangzhou, China
Posts: 22
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Re: Some physics/math help

Long answer:

Your calculation is correct, but I would be careful with the use of English units in general. I would convert everything to SI units (Newtons, meters, etc.) simply because working with English units can be a bit tricky, particularly when doing calculations with Newton's 2nd law.

The problem I see with your calculations is that you are mixing pounds as force and pounds as mass. Pound generally means force, but there is a unit called the Avoirdupois pound that refers to mass. When you use Fnet = ma, the calculation only works if the units for mass and force match, kilograms with newtons, for example.

I know it sounds tedious, but when faced with a problem given in English units, I recommend converting your units to SI, use your equations to make your calculations, and then convert back for the answer. I tell my physics students that the extra brain wringing required to use English units in calculations ends up being much worse than doing the unit conversion twice.

When you do the conversion, and you divide the force by the mass, your answer is in units of acceleration, as you would expect. In the case of this problem, you divide and get an answer in G's, which can be a bit awkward if you don't know how to deal with it. You handled it without a problem though, so congrats!

short answer: Good work...you should think about limiting the number of decimal places you report in your final answer though

Happy new year!

Evan
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