Question

A drag racing car's engine produces 12,000 Newtons of thrust, pushing the car forward down the track. Frictional forces resist the forward motion of the car with a total backward force of 2010 Newtons. If the mass of the car is 820 kg, what is the acceleration of the vehicle? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

a) 10.9 m/s²
b) 7.8 m/s²
c) 12.7 m/s²
d) 9.3 m/s²

Answer 1

Using Newton's second law of motion, we can calculate the acceleration of the car by subtracting the frictional forces from the engine's thrust and dividing the net force by the car's mass.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the acceleration of the car, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the net force acting on an object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration. In this case, the net force is the thrust produced by the engine minus the frictional forces:

Net force = Thrust - Friction

Net force = 12,000 N - 2010 N = 9990 N

Using this net force and the mass of the car, we can calculate the acceleration:

Acceleration = Net force / Mass

Acceleration = 9990 N / 820 kg = 12.2 m/s² (rounded to the nearest tenth)

Therefore, the acceleration of the vehicle is approximately 12.2 m/s².