Question

A 1200kg car is moving at 17.3 m/s when a force is applied the direction of the car's motion. The car speeds up to 29.4 m/s. If the force is applied for 58s what the magnitude of the force?

Answer 1

The car undergoes an average acceleration a of

a = (29.4 m/s - 17.3 m/s) / (58 s) ≈ 0.209 m/s²

so the force has a magnitude F of

F = (1200 kg) a ≈ 250 N