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A 1000kg car is moving with an initial velocity of 10m/s when the driver slams on the brakes and skids the car to a stop in 10 seconds. What is the force of the brakes on the car?

User Mzabaluev
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Final answer:

The force of the brakes on a 1000 kg car decelerating from 10 m/s to a stop in 10 seconds is -1000 N, where the negative sign represents the force's direction opposing the car's initial motion.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the force of the brakes on the car, we use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration (F = ma). In this case, we are given the car's mass (1000 kg), its initial velocity (10 m/s), and the time taken to stop (10 seconds).

First, we calculate the acceleration:

a = (final velocity - initial velocity) / time
a = (0 m/s - 10 m/s) / 10 s
a = -1 m/s2

Next, we apply Newton's second law:

F = mass × acceleration
F = 1000 kg × (-1 m/s2)
F = -1000 N

The negative sign indicates that the force is in the opposite direction of the initial motion, which makes sense because the force is a braking force.

User Paco Valdez
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