[Physics] Book against a wall and forces

classical-mechanicsforceshomework-and-exercises

If you take a book with mass of 1kg and push it against the wall. With how much force do you have to push the book so it does not fall?

The problem is I know how to calculate this problem, you say $F_{friction}$=$F_{gravitational}$ and $F_{wall / normal}$ = $F_{human / push}$.

The problem is solvable if you say that $F_{gravitational}$ = $F_{normal / wall}$, but why is this true?

How would you calculate this problem if you didn't know that $F_{normal}$ = $F_{gravitational}$, how would you prove this statement?

For me the problem is that $F_{normal}$ = $F_{gravitational}$ * $\cos(\alpha)$, but cos(angle) is 0, I don't understand the relationship between $F_{gravitational}$ and $F_{normal}$ in this scenario.

Best Answer

What you need is a relationship between the frictional force and the normal force.

The Wikipedia article on friction has $$F_\mathrm{f} \leq \mu F_\mathrm{n}$$ where $\mu$ is the coefficient of friction. You want to find the minimum normal force necessary, i.e. when this inequality becomes an equality.

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