You push on a box with a net force of 5 N and it accelerates. What happens if you exert the same net force on an object that has half the mass?
The object will accelerate twice as much.
The object will accelerate four times as much.
The acceleration will remain unchanged.
The object will accelerate one half as much.
acceleration = force / mass
halving the mass, doubles the acceleration
The object will accelerate twice as much.
The correct answer is: The object will accelerate twice as much.
When you exert a net force on an object, the object accelerates according to Newton's second law of motion: force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).
If you push on a box with a net force of 5 N and it accelerates, it means that the mass of the box multiplied by its acceleration is equal to 5 N.
Now, if you exert the same net force on an object that has half the mass, according to the equation F = ma, the force will remain the same (5 N) and the mass will be halved.
Since force is constant and mass is halved, the resulting acceleration will be twice as much. This is because the acceleration is inversely proportional to mass when the force is constant. So, by reducing the mass, the object will experience a greater acceleration.