Question

A student is helping his teacher move a 40.0 kg aquarium. What net sideways force must he exert on the aquarium to slide it across the floor so that it accelerates at 0.50 m/s2?

Answer 1

20 N

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question given above, the following data were obtained:

Mass (m) of aquarium = 40 kg

Acceleration (a) = 0.50 m/s²

Force (F) =?

Force is simply defined as the product of mass and acceleration. Mathematically, it is expressed as:

Force (F) = mass (m) × acceleration (a)

F = m × a

With the above, we can obtain the force needed to slide the aquarium as follow:

Mass (m) of aquarium = 40 kg

Acceleration (a) = 0.50 m/s²

Force (F) =?

F = m × a

F = 40 × 0.5

F = 20 N

Therefore, a force of 20 N is needed to slide the aquarium.