Some advice: you can start by selecting a mass for the snowboarder, a friction coefficient, and an angle of the slope of the hill with the horizontal. Then click on one of the force "draw force" buttons, and then click somewhere on the canvas and drag your mouse to where you want the force arrow to point. (In the lower left of the canvas you will see the force components displayed in units of Newtons). Do this for the normal force, the gravitational force, the friction force, and finally for the net force, i.e. the vector sum of the other three force vectors. (Note: You can click on each "draw force" button multiple times and correct your work.) Once you are happy with your work, you can check it against the solution by hitting the "Check Force Angles" button in the lower right corner. There is also a "Show Exact Forces" button, which displays and hides the correct force vectors at the correct lengths. If you get all forces vectors drawn at the correct length and angle, you will see a correct completion message. You can also see how the force vectors change as a function of the mass, angle, and friction coefficient by chosing this option and adjusting the sliders. This is the version using a coordinate system, in which y points up and x points right. As customary, all angles are calculated relative to the positive x-axis.

© W. Bauer and G.D. Westfall, 2022