Question #384a4

1 Answer
Jun 27, 2015

The reactive force exerted on the body will be equal to 25 N.

Explanation:

An equilateral triangle has all three internal angles equal to #60^@#.

This means that, regardless on which side your triangle stands on, its other two sides will form #60^@# angles with the horizontal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilateral_triangle

Either side of the triangle will thus be equivalent to an inclined plane

http://www.quora.com/Why-is-normal-force-on-a-banked-curve-different-from-normal-force-on-an-inclined-plane

The normal force exerted on the body will be equal to

#N = mg * cos(theta)#, where

#m# - the mass of the body;
#g# - the gravitational acceleration;
#theta# - the angle formed by the inclined plane with the horizontal.

Plug your values into the above equation and solve for #N# (assume #g# to be equal to #10"m/s"^2#)

#N = "5 kg" * 10"m"/"s"^2 * cos(60^@)#

#N = 50 underbrace(("kg" * "m")/"s"^2)_(color(blue)("=Newton")) * 1/2 = color(green)("25 N")#