A curious thought about inclined planes

free-body-diagramfrictionnewtonian-mechanics

So imagine you have a block on an inclined plane. The angle of inclination is such that the block doesn't move – it is at rest. There's friction and normal force too but the key point is that the block is not moving. Would the angle of inclination (theta max) be larger if the system was on the moon instead of the earth?

or put generally – does the angle of inclination depend on the gravity?

Best Answer

Would the angle of inclination (theta max) be larger if the system was on the moon instead of the earth?

If by "theta max" you mean the maximum incline angle where the block will remain at rest (not start to slide), then the answer is no.

The maximum incline angle before sliding is impending is independent of the mass of the object or the force of gravity. This can be shown as follows:

The component of the force of gravity acting down the plane is given by

$$F_{g}=mg\sin\theta$$

The normal force on the plane is $mg\cos\theta$. Thus the maximum possible static friction force acting up the plane is given by

$$F_{s-max}=\mu_{s}mg\cos\theta$$

Where $\mu_s$ is the coefficient of static friction between the block and the incline surface.

Impending sliding of the block is when the two forces are equal

$$mg\sin\theta=\mu_{s}mg\cos\theta$$

$$\mu_{s}=\tan\theta_{max}$$

$$\theta_{max}=\tan^{-1}\mu_{s}$$

So $\theta_{max}$ is independent of the mass and the magnitude of the force of gravity. It depends only on the coefficient of static friction. So the force of gravity, be it $g$ or $\frac{1}{6}g$ (approximate on the moon) is not a factor.

Of course if there were no gravity, the block will not move regardless of the inclination since there is no downward force along the incline nor normal force perpendicular to the incline (i.e., the net force acting on the block is zero).

Hope this helps.