Question

You are pushing a cart at the grocery store. The cart is speeding up. a) When your friend drops a 50 pound bag of dog food into the cart you are pushing, what would happen to the acceleration of the cart? Explain your answer using Newton's Second Law.

Answer 1

The acceleration will decrease/reduce

Step-by-step explanation:

Newton in his second law of motion states that the acceleration of an object is dependent on the force and mass applied on the object. Using the equation as follows:

F = m × a

Where;

F = force (N)

m = mass (kg)

a = acceleration (m/s²)

Acceleration (a) is directly proportional to the force (F) applied but inversely proportional to the mass (m).

According to this question, a friend drops 50 pounds of dog food into a cart being pushed with speed. This means that the mass/weight of the cart was increased. Since the acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of an object, this means that the acceleration of the cart will DECREASE/REDUCE as the mass increases.