Question

You are walking up an icy slope. Suddenly your feet slip, and you start to slide backward. Will you slide at a constant speed or will you accelerate?

A. Slide at a constant speed

B. Accelerate

C. Decelerate

D. It depends on other factors

Answer 1

You will accelerate when sliding backward down an icy slope, as gravity will increase your speed over time unless countered by another force.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you start to slide backward down an icy slope, you will accelerate. This is because the force of gravity will continue to pull you down the slope, causing your speed to increase. The acceleration will continue unless countered by another force, such as friction or air resistance. However, since the question specifies an icy slope and implies minimal resistance, acceleration due to gravity is unopposed, leading to an increase in speed over time.

There are three ways an object can accelerate: speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction. On the icy slope, the primary form of acceleration you experience is speeding up due to gravity.

If we consider an object on a frictionless incline, as per Newton's second law, the object will accelerate down the slope due to the component of its weight parallel to the slope. When an object slides down an incline with no opposing force (negligible friction), it will experience constant acceleration unless acted by another external force.