Three cylinders, all of the same mass, are stacked on a table as shown in the figure. There is enough friction between the cylinders and the table such that the cylinders remain at rest. Let Fh be the horizontal force of the table on one of the cylinders and Fn be the normal force. When Fh is a minimum, what is the ratio Fh/Fn?
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Hint: Look at the triangle formed by the centers of the three masses. Nothing is moving so do the masses of M2 and M3 matter for Fh? The force from gM1 is split. The answer will be a nice fraction. What are the units of the answer? – C. Towne Springer Jan 13 '14 at 08:36