Coefficient of Friction?

Question

A woman weighing 500 N glides across some ice, starting her glide with a speed of 4 m/s. If the coefficient of friction between the skates and the ice is 0.115, how far does she go before comes to a rest?

Answer 1

Well, whilst she is sliding, ignoring air resistance, the only force acting on her is the force of friction. That's the most important part of this problem. As such, you know that Fnet = Ffriction. Ffriction = Fnormal (Uk), so you can solve for Ffriction. That's Fnet, and Fnet = ma. You know Fnet and her weight, so divide her weight by 9.8 m/s to find her mass. Solve that equation for a, and then plug it into one of the handy-dandy kinematic equations. :)