Question

Superman throws a boulder of weight 3800 n at an adversary on the surface of the earth, where the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.80 m/s2 . what horizontal force must superman apply to the boulder to give it a horizontal acceleration of 12.8 m/s2 ?

Answer 1

Superman must apply a horizontal force of approximately 4963.33 N to the boulder to achieve the desired acceleration of 12.8 m/s^2. This calculation is based on the weight of the boulder and the given acceleration due to gravity.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the horizontal force that Superman must apply to the boulder to achieve the given horizontal acceleration, we first need to calculate the mass of the boulder. Since the weight of the boulder (W) is given by the formula W = mg, where m is the mass of the boulder, g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.80 m/s2), and W is the weight (3800 N), the mass of the boulder (m) can be calculated as follows:

m = W / g = 3800 N / 9.80 m/s2 = 387.76 kg (rounded to two decimal places).

Now that we know the mass, we can find the horizontal force (F) needed to achieve the horizontal acceleration (a) using Newton's second law, F = ma. Substituting the known values results in:

F = m * a = 387.76 kg * 12.8 m/s2 = 4963.33 N.

So, Superman must apply a horizontal force of approximately 4963.33 N to provide the boulder with the desired acceleration of 12.8 m/s2.

Answer 2

The weight of the boulder is 3800 N, therefore its mass i s
3800/9.8 = 387.755 kg

If the horizontal acceleration is 12.8 m/s², then the horizontal force applied is
F = (387.755 kg)*(12.8 m/s²) = 4.963 x 10³ n = 4.963 kN

Answer: 4.963 kN