When you trip, your foot stops, but your body continues to move forward. Which statement best explains why this happens?
a an unbalanced force stops your foot but does not act on the rest of your body
b newtons second law of motion pushes your body forward after your foot stops
c an unbalanced force pushes your body forward
d the unbalanced force that stops your foot pulls your body forward
c an unbalanced force pushes your body forward
The statement that best explains why, when you trip, your foot stops but your body continues to move forward is:
c) An unbalanced force pushes your body forward.
When you trip, an unbalanced force causes your body to continue moving forward while your foot stops. This happens because there is no counteracting force to stop the forward motion of your body. Newton's first law of motion states that an object at rest will stay at rest or an object in motion will continue moving in a straight line at a constant speed unless acted upon by an external force. In this case, the external force is the unbalanced force that pushes your body forward after your foot stops.
The correct answer is a) an unbalanced force stops your foot but does not act on the rest of your body.
To understand why this happens, we can refer to Newton's first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia. This law states that an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will continue to move at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force.
In the case of tripping, when your foot suddenly encounters an obstruction, an external force (the unbalanced force) is applied to it, causing it to stop abruptly. However, the rest of your body, which was in motion, still wants to keep moving forward due to its inertia. Since there is no external force acting on your body to stop it, it continues to move forward until another force, such as friction or hitting the ground, eventually acts on it and brings it to a halt.
In summary, it is the difference in forces acting on your foot and the rest of your body that causes your foot to stop while your body continues to move forward.