A certain force made a 5.0 kg mass accelerate at 4.0 m/s^2. This same force made another object accelerate at only 0.8 m/s^2. Find the mass of the second object.
I have no idea how to do this.
Do i use m=1/a? What do i do?
F=m*a
F=5*4
F=M*.8
20=M*.8
So it's 20 x 0.8=16?
20=M*.8
divide each side by .8
Oh! thanks!
I understand it now :D
To solve this problem, you can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force acting on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration (F = ma).
First, we know the force applied is the same for both objects. Let's call this force F.
For the first object, with mass m1 and acceleration a1, we have:
F = m1 * a1
For the second object, with an unknown mass m2 and acceleration a2, we have:
F = m2 * a2
Since we know F is the same for both objects, we can set the two equations equal to each other:
m1 * a1 = m2 * a2
Now we can rearrange the equation to solve for m2 (the mass of the second object):
m2 = (m1 * a1) / a2
Using the given values: m1 = 5.0 kg, a1 = 4.0 m/s^2, and a2 = 0.8 m/s^2, we can substitute these values into the equation to find m2:
m2 = (5.0 kg * 4.0 m/s^2) / 0.8 m/s^2
Simplifying the equation, we get:
m2 = 20.0 kg
Therefore, the mass of the second object is 20.0 kg.