A box rests on a frozen pond, which serves as a frictionless horizontal surface.
If a fisherman applies a horizontal force with magnitude 44.0 N to the box and produces an acceleration of magnitude 2.80 m/s^{2}, what is the mass of the box?
To find the mass of the box, we can use Newton's second law of motion which states that the force applied to an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration.
The equation for Newton's second law is:
F = m * a
Where:
F = applied force (44.0 N)
m = mass of the box (unknown)
a = acceleration (2.80 m/s^2)
To find the mass (m), we rearrange the equation to solve for m:
m = F / a
Substituting the given values, we have:
m = 44.0 N / 2.80 m/s^2
Evaluating this expression gives:
m ā 15.71 kg
Therefore, the mass of the box is approximately 15.71 kg.