An insect crawls up a hemispherical surface very slowly (see the figure). The coefficient of friction between the insect and the surface is 1/3. If the line joining the centre of the hemispherical surface to the insect makes an angle a with the vertical, the maximum possible value of α is given by :

Solution:
For Equilibrium,
⇒ μmg cos θ = mg sin θ
⇒ μ = tan θ = 1/3
⇒ cot θ = 3
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