Serway & Jewett — Circular Motion and Other Applications of Newton's Laws: Problem 19

Review. A window washer pulls a rubber squeegee down a very tall vertical window. The squeegee has mass 160 g and is mounted on the end of a light rod. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the squeegee and the dry glass is 0.900. The window washer presses it against the window with a force having a horizontal component of 4.00 N. (a) If she pulls the squeegee down the window at constant velocity, what vertical force component must she exert? (b) The window washer increases the downward force component by 25.0%, while all other forces remain the same. Find the squeegee’s acceleration in this situation. (c) The squeegee is moved into a wet portion of the window, where its motion is resisted by a fluid drag force R proportional to its velocity according to \(R = -20.0v\), where R is in newtons and v is in meters per second. Find the terminal velocity that the squeegee approaches, assuming the window washer exerts the same force described in part (b).