A 38.5 kg girl and a 57.0 kg boy are on the surface of a frozen lake, 10.0 m apart. Using a rope, the girl exerts a horizontal 5.55 N force on the boy, pulling him toward her. Calculate the magnitude of the girl's acceleration
To calculate the magnitude of the accelerations you can use the formula F=ma. The girl's acceleration is simply 5.55N / 38.5kg = a
A in this instance is .14 m/s^2, I think.
To calculate the magnitude of the girl's acceleration, we need to 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.
First, we need to determine the net force acting on the boy. The girl exerts a horizontal force of 5.55 N on the boy, but since they are both on a frictionless surface, there are no other horizontal forces acting on them. Therefore, the net force is simply the force applied by the girl.
Next, we need to calculate the acceleration of the boy. Since the girl is pulling the boy towards her, the acceleration will be in the direction of the force applied.
We can use the equation F = ma, where F is the net force, m is the mass of the object, and a is the acceleration.
For the boy:
- Mass (m): 57.0 kg
- Net force (F): 5.55 N
Plugging these values into the equation, we get:
5.55 N = 57.0 kg * a
Now, solve for the acceleration (a):
a = 5.55 N / 57.0 kg
a ≈ 0.097 m/s²
Therefore, the magnitude of the girl's acceleration is approximately 0.097 m/s².