Question

Irene, Aditya, Valerie, and Lupita are in a dogsled race. Using the equations for Newton's second law, who would MOST LIKELY win if

each dog pulls with a force of 50 N?
• Irene has 8 dogs and a sled with a total mass of 500 kg.
• Aditya has 6 dogs and a sled with a total mass of 400 kg.
• Valerie has 7 dogs and a sled with a total mass of 550 kg.
• Lupita has 10 dogs and a sled with a total mass of 600 kg. Saved at 10:07 AM PDT

Answer 1

Applying Newton's second law, Lupita would most likely win the race because her sled has the highest acceleration of 0.833 m/s², caused by the greater force from having more dogs relative to the mass of her sled.

Step-by-step explanation:

Using Newton's second law of motion (Force = mass x acceleration), we can compare which dogsled racer would most likely win if each dog pulls with a force of 50 N. Newton's second law implies that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the total force applied to it and inversely proportional to its mass.

The total force for each racer can be calculated by multiplying the number of dogs by the force each dog exerts (50 N):

• Irene has 8 dogs: 8 dogs x 50 N/dog = 400 N
• Aditya has 6 dogs: 6 dogs x 50 N/dog = 300 N
• Valerie has 7 dogs: 7 dogs x 50 N/dog = 350 N
• Lupita has 10 dogs: 10 dogs x 50 N/dog = 500 N

Now, we calculate the acceleration by applying Newton's second law: acceleration = total force / mass. The one with the highest acceleration will most likely win:

1. Irene: 400N / 500kg = 0.8 m/s2
2. Aditya: 300N / 400kg = 0.75 m/s2
3. Valerie: 350N / 550kg = 0.636 m/s2
4. Lupita: 500N / 600kg = 0.833 m/s2

Comparing the calculated accelerations, Lupita with an acceleration of 0.833 m/s2 would most likely win the race because her dogsled has the highest acceleration. This indicates Lupita's sled would speed up faster than the others, assuming all other conditions are identical.