You are pulling your little sister on her sled across an icy (frictionless) surface. When you exert a constant horizontal force of 114 N, the sled has an acceleration of 2.3 m/s2 If the sled has a mass of 7.6 kg, what is the mass of your little sister?
I don't need the answer, just help on how to solve it. Thanks
(m1+m2)a=F
m1+m2 =F/a
m2=F/a – m1
Thank you very much Elena for that and also for promptly answering my question on a timely manner!!!
To solve this problem, you can use 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, the net force is the force you exert on the sled, which is 114 N, and the acceleration is given as 2.3 m/s^2.
You know the mass of the sled, which is 7.6 kg, but you want to find the mass of your little sister (let's call it "m_sister").
Using Newton's second law, you can rearrange the formula to solve for the mass:
F = m * a
Rearranging, we get:
m = F / a
Substituting the given values, we can calculate the mass of your little sister:
m_sister = 114 N / 2.3 m/s^2
m_sister ≈ 49.57 kg
So, the mass of your little sister would be approximately 49.57 kg.