Why is it when Two students push against each other while sitting on skateboards. The student with more mass does not travel as far. This is best explained by newtons 2nd law of motion and not 1st law of motion
This phenomenon can be best explained by Newton's second law of motion rather than the first law of motion.
Newton's first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia, states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same velocity unless acted upon by an external force. This law does not specifically address the interaction between two objects or the resulting motion.
On the other hand, Newton's second law of motion relates the acceleration (a) of an object to the net force (F) acting on it and its mass (m). According to this law, the formula is F = ma.
When two students sitting on skateboards push against each other, they exert equal but opposite forces on each other. These forces are the external forces acting on both students. As per Newton's second law, the force experienced by an object determines its acceleration.
Since both students are being pushed with the same magnitude of force (equal forces), their accelerations should depend on their masses. Newton's second law states that the acceleration experienced by an object is directly proportional to the force applied and inversely proportional to its mass.
Therefore, the student with more mass will experience a lower acceleration than the student with less mass. Consequently, the student with more mass will not travel as far as the student with less mass, as their accelerations are unequal due to the difference in their masses.