Asmall sphere is hung by a string from the ceiling of a van. when the van is stationary, the sphere hangs vertically. however, when the van accelerates, the sphere swings backward so that the string makes an angle of
θ
with respect to the vertical.
(a) derive an expression for the magnitude a of the acceleration of the van in terms of the angle
θ
and the magnitude g of the acceleration due to gravity.
(b) find the acceleration of the van when
θ=10.0∘
(c) what is the angle
θ
when the van moves with a constant velocity?