In the figure here, a box of Cheerios (mass mC = 1.4 kg) and a box of Wheaties (mass mW = 3.3 kg) are accelerated across a horizontal surface by a horizontal force applied to the Cheerios box. The magnitude of the frictional force on the Cheerios box is 2.1 N, and the magnitude of the frictional force on the Wheaties box is 4.3 N. If the magnitude o
Incomplete.
To find the magnitude of the applied force, we can start by analyzing the forces acting on each box individually.
For the Cheerios box:
1. The force applied to the Cheerios box (let's call it F) is in the same direction as the acceleration, which is unknown.
2. The frictional force opposing the motion of the Cheerios box is given as 2.1 N.
Applying Newton's second law (F = ma) to the Cheerios box, where a is the acceleration:
F - 2.1 N = mC × a
For the Wheaties box:
1. The acceleration of the Wheaties box is the same as the acceleration of the Cheerios box, which is unknown.
2. The frictional force opposing the motion of the Wheaties box is given as 4.3 N.
Applying Newton's second law (F = ma) to the Wheaties box, where a is the acceleration:
4.3 N = mW × a
Now, we have two equations, one for each box. We can solve this system of equations to find the unknown acceleration.
Equation 1: F - 2.1 N = mC × a
Equation 2: 4.3 N = mW × a
We are given the mass of the Cheerios box (mC = 1.4 kg) and the mass of the Wheaties box (mW = 3.3 kg). However, we don't have the value of the applied force (F) or the common acceleration (a) yet. Thus, we need more information or values to calculate the magnitude of the applied force.