Stupid physics problem.

[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

...I hate my physics class. This is the only class where I do my homework online. Get the answer wrong on one part of the question, use the wrong answer for another part, and get the right answer for another part...

Adam,

Although I would have preferred that you solve these problems on your own (and congrats to the physics majors out there who divined the answers), you should note the following:

In both answers, the second part is really independent of the first. Example: plug a different weight into the second problem and Mu is exactly the same. the block could have a mass of a billion kilos with exactly the same answer, Mu = 0.671! In the same way, the answer to problem 1b is dependent only on the acceleration due to gravity.

What you highlighted as a point of frustration is one of the beauties of the universe... Cool eh?