A student is investigating mass and acceleration. The student applies the same force of 40 N force to two boxes that have the same size and shape. Box 1 experiences an acceleration of 10 m/s^2 and box 2 experiences an acceleration of 5m/s^2.
The student claims that box 1 must have a smaller mass than box 2. Which argument best supports the student's claim?(1 point)
Responses
Heavier objects need less force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.
Heavier objects need less force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.
Heavier objects need greater force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.
Heavier objects need greater force than lighter objects to accelerate at the same rate.
Lighter objects need greater force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.
Lighter objects need greater force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.
Lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.
The correct argument that best supports the student's claim is: "Lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate."
The argument that best supports the student's claim is: "Lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate."
The argument that best supports the student's claim is: "Lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate."
To understand this, you need to know Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force applied to an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by the acceleration. The equation for this is F = m * a, where F is the force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration.
If the student applies the same force of 40 N to both boxes, but box 1 experiences an acceleration of 10 m/s^2 and box 2 experiences an acceleration of 5 m/s^2, we can rearrange the equation to solve for mass. For box 1, we have 40 = m * 10, and for box 2, we have 40 = m * 5.
From these equations, we can see that for box 1 to have a larger acceleration with the same applied force, its mass must be smaller. Therefore, the argument that lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate supports the student's claim that box 1 must have a smaller mass than box 2.