A sled of mass m is given a kick on a frozen pond. The kick imparts to it an initial speed of 2.00 m/s. The coefficient of kinetic friction between sled and ice is 0.100. Use energy considerations to find the distance the sled moves before it stops.

find the initial KE. set that equal to forcefriction*distance

1/2 mv^2=mg*.1*distance

solve for distance.

I tried that, but the problem doesn't give me a mass....

mass does not matter, it divides out. Put 1 for the mass.

oh! nevermind. I was looking at the wrong answer in the book, so I kept thinking i got the wrong answer. haha thank you!

You're welcome! I'm glad I could help clarify that for you. It's important to remember that in this particular problem, the mass of the sled does not affect the distance it will move before coming to a stop due to friction. The mass cancels out when calculating the distance using energy considerations.

Just to recap the steps again:
1. Find the initial kinetic energy (KE) of the sled, which can be calculated using the formula KE = 1/2 * m * v^2. Since you don't have the mass (m) given, you can just put 1 for the mass.
2. Set the initial kinetic energy equal to the work done against friction, which is equal to the force of friction multiplied by the distance the sled moves. The formula becomes KE = force_friction * distance.
3. Since the force of friction is given by the equation force_friction = coefficient_kinetic_friction * m * g, you can substitute this into the equation.
4. Simplify the equation and solve for the distance (d).

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with!