Question

A force of 200 N is exerted on an object of mass 40 kg that is located on a sheet of perfectly smooth ice. A. Calculate the acceleration of the object.

B. If a second object identical to the first object is placed on top of the first object, what acceleration would the 200 N force produce?

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Acceleration is = force/mass, 200/40 km/sec2= 5km/sec2.

Answer 2

Given,

Force exerted = 200N

Mass of the object = 40kg

Ice sheet is perfectly smooth.

To find,

1. Acceleration of the object.
2. Acceleration of the object if a second object identical to the first object is placed on top of the first object.

Solution,

We can simply solve this numerical problem by using the following process.

Now, the ice sheet is perfectly smooth. So, the frictional force will be negligible is this case.

Here, we have to use the mathematical relationship between force, mass and acceleration. Which is -

Force = Mass × Acceleration

For the first case,

Mass = 40 kg

Force = 200 N

So,

Forcs = Mass × Acceleration

200 = 40 × Acceleration

Acceleration = 200/40 = 5 m/s²

For the second case,

Mass of first object = 40 kg

Mass of similar second object = 40 kg

Total mass = 40+40 = 80 kg

Force = 200 N

So,

Force = Mass × Acceleration

200 = 80 × Acceleration

Acceleration = 200/80 = 2.5 m/s²

Hence, in the first case the acceleration is 5 m/s² and in the second case the acceleration is 2.5 m/s²