Question

To practice Tactics Box 5.2 Working with objects in contact.

A 1200-kg
car pushes a 2100-kg
truck that has a dead battery to the right. When the driver steps on the accelerator, the drive wheels of the car push against the ground with a force of 4500 N
. What is the magnitude of the force the car applies to the truck?

Answer 1

To find the magnitude of the force the car applies to the truck, we can use Newton's third law of motion, which states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." In this case, the action is the force the drive wheels of the car apply to the ground, and the reaction is the force the car applies to the truck.

The force the car applies to the truck is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force applied by the car's drive wheels to the ground, which is 4500 N.

So, the magnitude of the force the car applies to the truck is also 4500 N.