A series of small packages are being moved by a thin conveyor belt that passes over a 300-mm radius idler pulley. The belt starts from rest at time t=0 and its speed increases at a constant rate of 150mm/s^2. Knowing that the coefficient of static friction between the packages and the belt is 0.75, determine the time at which the first package slips.
The given answer is 11.32 seconds.
1 answer
The friction force on a package not slipping must be M*0.15 m/s^2, and the maximum static friction force is M*9.8 m/s^2. I don't see why slipping would ever occur, or what the radius of the "idler pully" bas to do with the problem.