Question

Study the scenario.

A car is moving along a frictionless surface with a speed of 2 m/s to the left. You and your friend each come over and push the car at the same time. You exert a force of 6 N to the left, while your friend exerts a force of 6 N to the right.

According to Newton’s first law, how will this action affect the car’s motion?
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1. The car will stop immediately because two balanced forces will cause an object to stop moving.

2. The car will continue moving to the left but at a slower speed because your friend’s force is going to make the car slow down.

3. The car will continue to move 2 m/s to the left because there are balanced forces acting on it.

4. The car will speed up because your force is in the same direction of the car’s motion, making it speed up.

Answer 1

The answer to your question is: Number 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to your question is number 1. The car will stop immediately because 2 balanced forces will cause an object stop moving.

If we apply a force of 6 N to the left and another person applies a force of 6 N to right both forces are cancel and the result is O, so the car will stop moving.

Answer 2

Answer: The car will stop immediately because two balanced forces will cause an object to stop moving.

Step-by-step explanation:

Balanced forces are defined as the forces that gets cancelled out when equal forces are acting in the opposite direction. The net force on the system comes becomes 0.

Unbalanced forces are defined as the forces that does not get cancelled out because unequal forces act on the system in opposite direction. The motion of the object is in the direction of net force.

According to the question:

Force exerted by me on the car in left direction = 6 N

Force exerted by my friend on the car in right direction = 6 N

Net force acting on the car = 6 - 6 = 0 N

As, the net force on the car is 0 N, the car will come to rest.

Hence, the car will stop immediately because two balanced forces will cause an object to stop moving.