Amira hits a tennis ball with her racket. The tennis ball flies across the tennis court. She says that hitting the tennis ball is an example of balanced forces. Is she correct?
A
No, because the forces acting on the ball are equal on all sides.
B
Yes, because the forces acting on the ball are equal on all sides.
C
No, because she hits the ball with more force in the forward direction.
D
Yes, because she hits the ball with more force in the forward direction.
C
No, because she hits the ball with more force in the forward direction.
The tennis ball pushes back on the racquet with the same magnitude of force that the racket pushes on the ball. As far as I know forces are always balanced.
Both statements in your response are incorrect. The force exerted by the tennis ball on the racket (known as the reaction force) is indeed equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force exerted by the racket on the ball. This is Newton's third law of motion - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. However, this does not necessarily mean that the forces are balanced.
In this case, the forces are not balanced because Amira hits the ball with more force in the forward direction. Consequently, the forward force is greater than the opposing reaction force from the ball, causing the ball to accelerate and fly across the tennis court. Therefore, the correct answer is C: No, because she hits the ball with more force in the forward direction.