Question

Pedro is entering the grocery store. He has an empty cart that has a mass of 20 kg. He bumps into another cart, which is full, and has a mass of 40 kg. When the two carts collided, neither cart moved backwards or forwards. What does this mean? Answer in terms of balanced/unbalanced forces and which Newtons Law this Scenario is related to. There will be 2 choices that are correct: Balanced/Unbalanced and the correct Newton's Law.

Answer 1

The lack of movement after the carts collided means the forces were balanced, exemplifying Newton's Third Law of Motion.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Pedro bumped his empty cart into the full cart at the grocery store and neither cart moved backwards or forwards after the collision, it implies that the forces were balanced. In a situation where two objects collide and neither changes its state of motion significantly, the forces they exert on each other are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. This is related to Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The fact that the carts did not move backwards or forwards indicates that the force the empty cart exerted on the full cart was equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force the full cart exerted back on the empty one.