In moving a standard computer mouse, a user applies a horizontal force of 6.00×10−2 N. The mouse has a mass of 125 g. (a) What is the acceleration of the mouse? Ignore forces like friction that oppose its motion. (b) Assuming it starts from rest, what is its speed after moving 0.159 m across a mouse pad?

To find the acceleration of the mouse, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is equal to the net force acting on it divided by its mass.

(a) Finding the acceleration of the mouse:
Given:
Force (F) = 6.00 × 10^-2 N
Mass (m) = 125 g = 0.125 kg

The equation we can use is:

Acceleration (a) = Force (F) / Mass (m)

Substituting the given values:

Acceleration (a) = 6.00 × 10^-2 N / 0.125 kg

Now, let's calculate the acceleration:

Acceleration (a) = 0.048 m/s^2

(b) Finding the speed of the mouse:
To find the speed of the mouse, we can now use the equation:

Final velocity squared (v_f^2) = Initial velocity squared (v_i^2) + 2 × Acceleration (a) × Distance (d)

Given:
Initial velocity (v_i) = 0 m/s (as it starts from rest)
Acceleration (a) = 0.048 m/s^2
Distance (d) = 0.159 m

Rearranging the equation to solve for the final velocity:

Final velocity squared (v_f^2) = 0 + 2 × 0.048 m/s^2 × 0.159 m

Final velocity squared (v_f^2) = 0.0152 m^2/s^2

Taking the square root of both sides to find the final velocity:

Final velocity (v_f) = √(0.0152 m^2/s^2)

Final velocity (v_f) ≈ 0.123 m/s

So, the speed of the mouse after moving 0.159 m across the mouse pad is approximately 0.123 m/s.