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course Phy 121
The sine and cosine of 255 degrees are not the same (a sketch of this vector will show that one component is clearly much greater than the other). So you need to correct at least one of the components.Which component acts parallel to the incline?
What force is present to oppose that force?
How big does that force have to be?
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x component: 80 kg*cos(255 deg)=-56.6
y component: 80kg *sin (255 deg)=-56.6
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I am still getting the components as the same in my calculator even though I know one is bigger. Help! :/
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The sine of 255 deg is between -.9 and -1.
The cosine is in the neighborhood of -.25.
What does your calculator give you for these values on the sine and cosine?
&&&&&&I got sin(225)=-0.93 and cos(225)=-0.7&&&&&&&
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sin(225 deg) and cos(225 deg) are identical. So this result is clearly not correct. However this would explain how you got the identical results above.
However you are trying to find the sine and cosine of 255 deg, and while the -.93 makes good sense (for 255 deg) the -.7 does not.
You should have a good picture of the 255 deg angle on a set of coordinate axes. If you understand what the sine and cosine represent, and especially if you have drawn the corresponding projection lines, your picture will clearly show you that both sine and cosine are negative, and that the sine is much greater in magnitude than the cosine.
This would then prompt you to enter everything into your calculator very carefully, in order to reconcile the discrepancy between what your calculator is telling you and what your picture tells you.
This is in some ways an instance of what we've been discussing, i.e., the need to conceptualize in addition to doing the mathematics and to reconcile all aspects of a problem or situation.
In any case, the bottom line, I believe, is that you've been entering 225 when you mean to enter 255. Because of the repeated number this is a very easy error to make.
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