Hi! Thanks for the suggestion. Please correct me if I am wrong but the force of friction on an inclined plane is = umgcos(theta)
I think I see where the confusion might be coming from. On a lot of MCAT practice questions, we see:
Friction = mgsin(theta)
But that’s true only when the object is sliding at constant velocity, meaning the friction force is exactly balancing the component of gravity pulling it down the incline. That’s a special case where the net force = 0.
More generally, though, the force of friction is defined as:
umgcos(theta)
Because friction depends on the normal force, which is perpendicular to the inclined surface, not the downslope gravitational force.