Question

On the way to school this morning you saw an old lady with her hazard lights on in her

car. She was stuck in the middle of the road so you and your friends decided to push her
out. The car seemed heavy when you were pushing it. You accelerate the car at 10 m/s²
by applying a 20,000 Newton force and get her out of the road. The rough road caused a
Frictional force of 6,000 Newtons. Draw a free body diagram showing all the forces acting
On the car and calculate the mass of the car.

Answer 1

To calculate the mass of the car, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force applied to an object is equal to the mass of the object times its acceleration:

F = ma

In this case, we have:

- Force applied (F_applied) = 20,000 Newtons
- Acceleration (a) = 10 m/s²

We also have the frictional force (F_friction) acting in the opposite direction, which is 6,000 Newtons.

Now, let's calculate the net force (F_net) acting on the car:

F_net = F_applied - F_friction
F_net = 20,000 N - 6,000 N
F_net = 14,000 N

Now, we can use Newton's second law to calculate the mass (m) of the car:

F_net = ma

14,000 N = m * 10 m/s²

Now, solve for mass (m):

m = 14,000 N / 10 m/s²
m = 1,400 kg

So, the mass of the car is 1,400 kilograms.

As for the free body diagram, it should show the following forces:

1. An arrow pointing to the right to represent the applied force (20,000 N).
2. An arrow pointing to the left to represent the frictional force (6,000 N).
3. An arrow pointing downward to represent the force of gravity (the weight of the car).
4. An arrow pointing upward to represent the normal force (supporting the car's weight).

These forces should be labeled accordingly to complete the free body diagram.