The picture shows a physics lab setup.
Why does the disk fall straight down into the glass when the index card is quickly pulled away from the glass in a horizontal direction?
(1 point)
Responses
a Inertia
b Kinetic friction
c Equilibrium
d Static friction
a Inertia
The correct answer is a) Inertia.
When the index card is quickly pulled away from the glass in a horizontal direction, the disk falls straight down into the glass due to the principle of inertia. Inertia refers to the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. In this case, the disk was initially at rest, and when the index card is suddenly removed, there is no force acting horizontally on the disk to keep it in place. The only force acting on the disk is gravity, which causes it to move straight down into the glass.
The correct answer to this question is a) Inertia.
To understand why the disk falls straight down into the glass when the index card is quickly pulled away from the glass in a horizontal direction, we need to consider the concept of inertia.
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its motion. Specifically, an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force, while an object in motion will continue moving at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force.
In this setup, when the index card is quickly pulled, it applies a force on the disk in a horizontal direction. However, since the disk is initially at rest on the index card, it has no horizontal force acting on it. As a result, the disk tends to resist any change in its motion and remains at rest, while the index card moves out from under the disk.
But what about the force of gravity pulling the disk downward? Well, gravity acts vertically downward and does not have a horizontal component in this situation. Therefore, it does not play a significant role in causing the disk to fall straight down into the glass.
In conclusion, the disk falls straight down into the glass when the index card is quickly pulled away due to the inertia of the disk, which resists the change in its motion caused by the horizontal force applied by the index card.