Ethan is helping his father rearrange the furniture in their living room. They have two different tables that are the same size. When Ethan pushes on each table, he finds that it is harder to move table A than it is to move table B. Why does Ethan have to push with more force on table A than on table B? a Table A has more mass than table B. b Table A weighs less than table B. c Table A is less dense than table B d Table A has more volume than table B.

Question

Ethan is helping his father rearrange the furniture in their living room. They have two different tables that are the same size. When Ethan pushes on each table, he finds that it is harder to move table A than it is to move table B. Why does Ethan have to push with more force on table A than on table B? a Table A has more mass than table B. b Table A weighs less than table B. c Table A is less dense than table B d Table A has more volume than table B.

Answer 1

Ethan has to push with more force on table A than on table B because it is more difficult to move. This could be due to several factors not directly related to the options provided (like differences in friction due to different materials on the legs of the tables or floor surface), but based on the choices given, the most reasonable explanation would be:

a) Table A has more mass than table B.

Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object and is directly related to the inertia of the object—the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state of motion (including changes to its speed and direction). The greater the mass of an object, the more force it takes to change its motion, which is why table A would require a greater force to move compared to table B if they indeed have different masses.

Options b, c, and d are less likely to be the direct cause as:

b) Table A weighing less than table B would generally mean it should require less force to move (assuming weight is being used here to mean the force of gravity on the object, which is directly proportional to mass).

c) Table A being less dense than table B does not necessarily affect how much force Ethan needs to apply unless the density difference affects friction or other aspects that are not mentioned.

d) Table A having more volume than table B does not directly affect the required force to move an object if both tables have the same size and shape, as stated in the premise.

Therefore, without additional information about friction coefficients or other potential differences (like the presence of sticky material under the legs of table A, etc.), the most relevant factor based on the options provided is mass.