A 3 kg book is resting on a table. What force does the table exert on the book?
To find the force that the table exerts on the book, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force acting on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration. In this case, the book is not accelerating since it is at rest on the table. Therefore, we can conclude that the net force acting on the book is zero.
According to Newton's third law of motion, when an object A exerts a force on another object B, object B exerts an equal and opposite force on object A. In this scenario, the force that the table exerts on the book is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force that the book exerts on the table.
So, the force that the table exerts on the book is equal to the weight of the book. We can calculate this using the formula:
Force = mass x acceleration due to gravity.
The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is approximately 9.8 m/s². Given that the mass of the book is 3 kg, we can calculate the force as:
Force = 3 kg x 9.8 m/s² = 29.4 N.
Therefore, the table exerts a force of 29.4 Newtons upward on the book to balance its weight.