A child pulls a wagon with a force of 16 N by a handle making an angle of 20 degrees with the horizontal. If the wagon has a mass of 4.9 kg, to the nearest hundredth of a m/s2 what is the acceleration of the wagon?
[16 * cos(20º)] / 4.9
the values in the problem are to 2 significant figures
... not sure about hundredths accuracy
To find the acceleration of the wagon, we need to apply 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.
The force applied to the wagon can be resolved into its horizontal and vertical components. Since the angle between the force and the horizontal is given as 20 degrees, we can calculate the horizontal component of the force using trigonometry.
Horizontal force = Applied force * cos(angle)
Horizontal force = 16 N * cos(20 degrees)
Next, we calculate the acceleration by dividing the horizontal force by the mass of the wagon.
Acceleration = Horizontal force / Mass of the wagon
Acceleration = (16 N * cos(20 degrees)) / 4.9 kg
Evaluating this expression will give you the answer.