Question

Two football players are pushing a weighted sled across the football field. The players are both pushing with a force of 50N each. The sled weighs 50kg. What is the acceleration?

Answer 1

The acceleration of the sled being pushed by the two football players is 2 m/s². This is calculated using Newton's second law of motion by adding the two 50N forces to get a total of 100N, and then dividing by the sled's mass of 50kg.

Step-by-step explanation:

Two football players are pushing a weighted sled with a combined force. To find the acceleration of the sled, we will use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting upon it and inversely proportional to its mass (a = F/m).

In this case, there are two forces of 50N each being exerted in the same direction, so we can add them together to get the total force. Therefore, the total force is 50N + 50N = 100N. The mass of the sled is given as 50kg.

To calculate the acceleration:

1. Combine the forces exerted by the players: 50N + 50N = 100N.
2. Use Newton's second law: acceleration (a) = total force (F) / mass (m).
3. Substitute the given values into the equation: a = 100N / 50kg.
4. Calculate the acceleration: a = 2 m/s².

Therefore, the sled's acceleration is 2 m/s².