Question

Sally is pushing a shopping cart with a force of 20 N. Because the wheels are stuck, the friction caused by the ground is exerting a force of 8 N in the opposite direction. Calculate the net force on the shopping cart including an arrow indicating what direction the shopping cart is going

Answer 1

The net force on the shopping cart is 12 N to the right.

This is a question related to Newton's Laws. It can be solved by using a Free body diagram, which shows all the forces acting on the object. There are 4 forces acting on the object:

1. Gravity (g) pointing down.
2. Normal (N) pointing up.
3. Push force by Sally (Fp) pointing right.
4. Friction force (Ff) pointing left.

Forces (1) and (2) cancel each other because they have the same magnitude, and the overall force is given by the addition of forces (3) and (4)

$F=Fp+Ff=20N+ (-8N)=12N$

The positive value indicates that the shopping cart is moving to the right.

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