A force is applied to a 2.5 kg mass and pro-
duces 2.4 m/s2 acceleration.
What acceleration would be produced by
the same force applied to a 5.2 kg mass?
Answer in units of m/s2
To determine the acceleration produced by the same force applied to a different mass, we can use Newton's second law of motion which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force applied and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. Mathematically, this can be expressed as:
F = m * a
where F is the force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration.
Given that the force applied to the first mass (2.5 kg) produces an acceleration of 2.4 m/s², we can substitute these values into the equation:
2.4 m/s² = (2.5 kg) * a
Now, we can rearrange the equation to solve for the acceleration when the force is applied to a different mass (5.2 kg):
a = 2.4 m/s² / (2.5 kg) * (5.2 kg)
By substituting the values into the equation and evaluating it, we can calculate the acceleration.
a = 2.4 m/s² * (5.2 kg) / (2.5 kg)
a ≈ 4.992 m/s²
Therefore, the acceleration produced by the force when applied to a 5.2 kg mass would be approximately 4.992 m/s².