A student is investigating mass and acceleration. The student applies the same force to two boxes, as shown in the table.
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
Lighter objects need less 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.
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.
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 that lighter objects need less force than heavier objects to start moving but will accelerate at the same rate.
The best argument that 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 why this is the best argument, we need to understand Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the force applied to it and inversely proportional to its mass. Mathematically, this can be represented as F = m * a, where F is the force, m is the mass, and a is the acceleration of the object.
According to this law, if the student applies the same force to both boxes, but one box has a smaller mass (box 1), then according to the equation F = m * a, the acceleration of box 1 must be greater than the acceleration of box 2.
However, the argument also states that lighter objects need less force to start moving. This means that even though box 1 has a smaller mass, it requires less force to initiate its motion compared to box 2. Once the boxes are in motion, they will then accelerate at the same rate.
Therefore, the argument that lighter objects need less force 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.