Vikas TU
Last Activity: 5 Years ago
Dear student
The block will fall freely if the wedge is yanked away from underneath it with sufficient acceleration so that the surface of the wedge stays below the block.
For example, if the angle were 45 degrees, and one were to accelerate the wedge away at 1 g, then the surface would remain in contact just barely. Any acceleration above 1 g and the block could fall freely, because the surface of the wedge is receding faster.
For other angles, tan(angle) will tell you the ratio needed. If a is the acceleration of the wedge (away from the pointy end) and tan(alpha) is the tangent of the angle of the wedge, then
a * tan(alpha) > g
is the condition needed for the block to fall freely.
