Question

Two people push together to start a tandem bike moving, as seen in the picture on the left. One person pushes with a force of 200 N and the other with a force of 150 N. Assuming there are no other forces acting on the bike, what is the net force on the tandem bicycle?

1) 50 N left
2) 200 N left
3) 350 N left
4) I'm not sure

Answer 1

The net force on a tandem bicycle being pushed by two people with forces of 200 N and 150 N in the same direction is 350 N in the direction of the push.

Step-by-step explanation:

When two people push a tandem bicycle with forces of 200 N and 150 N in the same direction, and assuming there are no other forces acting on the bike, the net force is simply the sum of the two forces. Therefore, the net force on the tandem bicycle would be 200 N + 150 N, which equals 350 N. The direction of the net force would be the same as the direction in which the people are pushing.