The classes are playing tug of war. Mrs. Larson's homeroom pulls with a force of 50 N. Ms. Mitko's homeroom pulls with a force of 45 N in the opposite direction. What is the net force? And who won?
To determine the net force, we need to find the resultant force by adding or subtracting the two forces, depending on their direction.
Mrs. Larson's homeroom pulls with a force of 50 N in one direction, and Ms. Mitko's homeroom pulls with a force of 45 N in the opposite direction.
Since the forces are acting in opposite directions, we subtract the smaller force from the larger force to find the net force.
Net force = 50 N - 45 N = 5 N
The net force is 5 N.
The team with the greater net force wins. In this case, since Mrs. Larson's homeroom has a net force of 5 N (greater than Ms. Mitko's 45 N), Mrs. Larson's homeroom won the tug of war.