Question

The starship Enterprise locks onto an alien ship (whose mass is much greater than the Enterprise's mass) with its tractor beam (think of this as a futuristic rope) and starts to pull the alien ship toward it. Neither ship has its propulsion engines running. Which ship has greater acceleration towards the other?

a. The Enterprise
b. The alien ship
c. They both move with equal acceleration
d. Neither ship can move because there is no friction in outer space.

Answer 1

The Enterprise will have greater acceleration towards the alien ship when using a tractor beam because it has a smaller mass and the same force is applied to both ships.

Step-by-step explanation:

When the starship Enterprise uses its tractor beam to pull an alien ship with a much greater mass towards itself, the question arises: Which ship has greater acceleration towards the other? According to Newton's second law of motion, acceleration is directly proportional to the force applied, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

The Enterprise will have greater acceleration towards the alien ship when using a tractor beam because it has a smaller mass and the same force is applied to both ships.

Since the same force is applied to both the Enterprise and the alien ship (as per Newton's third law of action and reaction), the ship with the smaller mass (the Enterprise) will experience a greater acceleration.

Therefore, the correct answer is: a. The Enterprise