Question

A student sets up an experiment to determine the inertial mass of a cart. The student has access to the following measurement equipment: a spring scale, a meterstick, and a stopwatch. The student uses the spring scale to pull the cart starting from rest along a horizontal surface such that the reading on the spring scale is always constant. All frictional forces are negligible. In addition to the spring-scale reading, which two of the following quantities could the student measure with the available equipment and then use to determine the inertial mass of the cart? Select two answers.

a. The total distance traveled by the cart after it has been in motion.
b. The average speed of the cart while in motion.
c. The acceleration of the cart while in motion.
d. The time during which the cart is in motion

Answer 1

The total distance traveled by the cart after it has been in motion

The time during which the cart is in motion

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

The correct answers are a and d

Step-by-step explanation:

In this experiment it can be analyzed using Newton's second law

F = m a

m = F / m

The outside is supplied by the spring balance and is constant, therefore the acceleration of the system is also constant.

The acceleration can be found with the kinematic equations

x = v t + ½ a t²

As we start from rest the initial speed is zero

a = 2 x / t²

Therefore we need the reading of position and time.

Finally, the relationship between the balance reading and this acceleration of the mass of the system

Let's analyze the answers

a) True. It is one of the necessary quantities

b) False. With the equipment we cannot measure the speed directly

c) false. Acceleration is calculated

d) true. It is the other magnitude necessary for the calculation.

The correct answers are a and d