A student is performing an investigation. She applies the same amount of force to a soccer ball and a volleyball and observes their acceleration. She records her data in the table.
Ball | Mass (kilograms) | Force (newtons) | Acceleration (meters/second2)
soccer ball | 0.45 | 50 | 111
volleyball | 0.28 50 | 178
The student claims that a bowling ball with a mass of 0.5 kg will accelerate faster than the volleyball and the soccer ball. Which statement BEST evaluates the student's claim?
A. The student's claim is correct because acceleration decreases as mass increases.
B. The student's claim is correct because acceleration increases as mass increases.
C. The student's claim is incorrect because acceleration decreases as mass increases.
D. The student's claim is incorrect because acceleration increases as mass increases.
B. The student's claim is correct because acceleration increases as mass increases.
This statement is supported by Newton's Second Law of Motion, which states that acceleration is directly proportional to the force applied and inversely proportional to the mass of an object. In this case, if the force applied is the same, a bowling ball with a higher mass (0.5 kg) would accelerate faster than both the volleyball and the soccer ball with lower masses.