Question

A horse of weight w presses down on the ground with a magnitude F and becomes airborne as a result. The magnitude of the force the ground exerted on the horse must have been _____.

equal to w and less than F
equal to w and equal to F
more than w and equal to F
more than w and more than F

If anybody can let me know this answer asap, it would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Answer: Third option

More than w and equal to F

Step-by-step explanation:

If the horse presses the floor with a force F, then it follows that by Newton's third law, the floor makes a force -F on the horse.

Then if this force F is greater than the weight w of the horse, then the horse accelerates upwards and rises from the ground.

We know that after pressing the floor with a force F, the horse gets up off the floor. Then it is true that:

The force exerted by the floor on the horse is equal to F and greater than w

The answer is the third option more than w and equal to F