If a car is traveling westward with a constant velocity of 20 m/s, what is the net external force acting on it?

If it is not accelerating, the net force is zero.

If the car is traveling westward with a constant velocity of 20 m/s, that means the car is experiencing zero acceleration. According to Newton's second law of motion, when an object is at rest or moving with a constant velocity, the net external force acting on it is zero. Therefore, the net external force acting on the car is also zero.

To determine the net external force acting on the car, we need to consider Newton's second law of motion, which states that the net force acting on an object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration (F = m × a).

In this case, we are given that the car is traveling with a constant velocity of 20 m/s in the westward direction. Since velocity is a vector quantity that includes both magnitude and direction, we can conclude that the car is not accelerating. Therefore, the acceleration (a) is 0 m/s².

Now, we need to find the net force (F). Let's rearrange Newton's second law to solve for F:

F = m × a

Since the acceleration is 0 m/s², the net external force acting on the car will also be zero. This means that there are no external forces causing the car to accelerate or decelerate.