Which object will accelerate more if the student exerts an equal amount of force on each object?
(1 point)
Responses
10 kg box
10 kg box
two 10 kg boxes
two 10 kg boxes
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This question cannot be answered without additional information. The acceleration of an object depends not only on the force exerted on it, but also on its mass.
The two 10 kg boxes will accelerate more if the student exerts an equal amount of force on each object.
To determine which object will accelerate more, we need to understand Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. Mathematically, this can be represented as:
F = ma
Where F is the net force applied to the object, m is the mass of the object, and a is the resulting acceleration.
In this case, we have two scenarios:
Scenario 1: Student exerts an equal amount of force on two 10 kg boxes
Let's assume the force applied by the student is F.
According to Newton's second law, the acceleration of each box can be calculated using the formula:
a1 = F / m1
a2 = F / m2
Since the mass of both boxes (m1 and m2) is the same (10 kg), the accelerations will also be the same. Therefore, both boxes will accelerate equally in this scenario.
Scenario 2: Student exerts an equal amount of force on a single 10 kg box
Using the same formula as above, the acceleration of the single box can be calculated as:
a = F / m
Substituting the given values:
a = F / 10 kg
Comparing the acceleration in this scenario to the acceleration in scenario 1, we can see that the single box will accelerate more because there is only one object to move. The same force applied to a single object results in a greater acceleration compared to two objects of the same mass.
Therefore, the single 10 kg box will accelerate more if the student exerts an equal amount of force on each object.