Question

A tractor-trailer is traveling down the road. The mass of the trailer is 4 times the mass of the tractor. If the tractor accelerates forward, the force of the trailer on the tractor:

a) Is 4 times the force of the tractor on the trailer.
b) Is equal to the force of the tractor on the trailer.
c) Is 1/4 as much as the force of the tractor on the trailer.
d) Impossible; a tractor of mass m cannot pull a trailer of mass 4m.

Answer 1

The force of the trailer on the tractor is equal to the force of the tractor on the trailer.option b)

Step-by-step explanation:

The force of the trailer on the tractor is equal to the force of the tractor on the trailer.

According to Newton's Third Law of Motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When the tractor accelerates forward, it exerts a force on the trailer in the forward direction. As a result, the trailer exerts an equal and opposite force on the tractor in the backward direction.

This means that the force of the trailer on the tractor is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force of the tractor on the trailer.

Therefore, option b) Is equal to the force of the tractor on the trailer is the correct answer.