Question

A tugboat tows ships out of a harbor. The tugboat starts pulling the ships when they are stopped at a dock.

Masses of ships
Name Mass (kg)
Eden 3,239
Skipjack 2,273
Standard 2,020
Thunderer 2,526
Viceroy 1,859
The tugboat tows with the same force no matter the size of the ship. Order the names of the ships to show the size of the acceleration each ship will have as it starts to move.

Answer 1

In order of decreasing acceleration experienced by each ship, the names of the ships are as follows:

Viceroy

Standard

Skipjack

Thunderer

Eden

Step-by-step explanation:

A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another object.

According to Newton's second law of motion, the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the resultant (or net) force and inversely proportional to the mass of the object and the acceleration occurs in the same direction as the force.

Mathematically, a = F/m

From the given question, the tugboat tows the ships with the same force no matter the size of the ship, therefore, force is constant. The acceleration each ship will have as it starts to move assuming force = 1 N, is given below:

Eden; mass = 3,239;

acceleration = 1/3239 = 3.09 * 10⁻⁴ m/s²

Skipjack 2,273

acceleration = 1/2273 = 4.40 * 10⁻⁴ m/s²

Standard 2,020

acceleration = 1/2020 = 4.95 * 10⁻⁴ m/s²

Thunderer 2,526

acceleration = 1/526 = 3.96 * 10⁻⁴ m/s²

Viceroy 1,859

acceleration = 1/1859 = 5.38 * 10⁻⁴ m/s²

Thus, in order of decreasing acceleration experienced by each ship, the names of the ships are as follows:

Viceroy

Standard

Skipjack

Thunderer

Eden