A 3.03 kg briefcase is sitting at rest on a level
floor.
The acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s
2
.
a) What is its acceleration?
zero. It is sitting still.
Well, if the briefcase is just sitting there on the level floor, then its acceleration would be the same as my cat's motivation to do anything - zero!
To determine the acceleration of the briefcase, you need to know the force acting on it.
Since the briefcase is sitting at rest on a level floor, there is no net force acting on it in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the acceleration of the briefcase is 0 m/s^2.
To find the acceleration of the briefcase, we need to use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass.
First, we need to determine the net force acting on the briefcase. Since the briefcase is at rest on a level floor, the only force acting on it is the force due to gravity.
The force due to gravity can be calculated using the formula: force = mass x acceleration due to gravity.
Given:
Mass of the briefcase (m) = 3.03 kg
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.81 m/s^2
Substituting the values into the formula, we get:
Force = 3.03 kg x 9.81 m/s^2.
Calculating the force, we find:
Force = 29.6943 N.
Since the net force acting on the briefcase is equal to the force due to gravity, we can now find the acceleration using Newton's second law.
Newton's second law can be written as:
Force = mass x acceleration.
Rearranging the formula to solve for acceleration gives us:
Acceleration = Force / mass.
Substituting the values into the formula, we have:
Acceleration = 29.6943 N / 3.03 kg.
Calculating the acceleration, we find:
Acceleration = 9.8 m/s^2.
Therefore, the acceleration of the briefcase is 9.8 m/s^2.