Question

Draw a free body diagram for the following situation. Mrs. Franks tries to take inventory of her lab equipment every year. IfMrs. Franks pushes a 9.7 kg box across her floor by exerting an 85 N force, but the force of friction between the tile and the cardboard box is 80N. What is the acceleration of the box once Mrs. Franks gets it moving? (show work)

Answer 1

The free body diagram is in the image attached.

The acceleration of the box once Mrs. Franks gets it moving is 0.52 m/s².

How to calculate the acceleration of the box?

The acceleration of the box is calculated by applying the following formula;

F(net) = ma

F - Fs = ma

where;

• F is the applied force
• Fs is the force of friction
• m is the mass of the box
• a is the acceleration of the box

The given parameters include;

applied force, F = 85 N

force of friction, Fs = 80 N

mass of the box, m = 9.7 kg

a = (F - Fs) / m

a = (85 - 80 ) / 9.7

a = 0.52 m/s²