Halliday, Resnick & Walker — Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy: Problem 17

17 In Problem 6, what are the magnitudes of (a) the horizontal component and (b) the vertical component of the net force acting on the block at point Q? (c) At what height $h$ should the block be released from rest so that it is on the verge of losing contact with the track at the top of the loop? (On the verge of losing contact means that the normal force on the block from the track has just then become zero.) (d) Graph the magnitude of the normal force on the block at the top of the loop versus initial height $h$, for the range $h = 0$ to $h = 6R$. Data from Problem 6: Mass of block: $m = 0.032 \text{ kg}$ Radius of loop: $R = 10 \text{ cm} = 0.10 \text{ m}$ Release height: $h = 5.0R = 0.50 \text{ m}$ (for parts a and b) Track is frictionless.