In which situation is the object experiencing unbalanced forces?
1 answer:
B. A car slowing as it reaches a stop light
Explanation:
According to Newton's second law, the net force exerted on an object is equal to the product between its mass and its acceleration:
where
F is the net force
m is the mass of the object
a is its acceleration
This means that when an object is experiencing unbalanced forces (), it must have a non-zero acceleration. Therefore, let's analyze the different options:
A. A box resting on a horizontal floor --> FALSE. Here the acceleration is zero, so no unbalanced forces.
B. A car slowing as it reaches a stop light --> TRUE. Since the car is slowing down, its velocity is changing, so the acceleration is non-zero and there are unbalanced forces.
C. A car with its cruise control set to 50 mph --> FALSE. Here the velocity is constant, so no acceleration and no unbalanced forces.
D. A rocket sitting on the launch pad --> FALSE. Here the rocket is stationary, so no acceleration, and no unbalanced forces.
Learn more about Newton's second law:
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By looking at the acceleration of the object.
In fact, Netwon's second law states that the resultant of the forces acting on an object is equal to the product between the mass m of the object and its acceleration:
So, when static friction is acting on the object, if the object is still not moving we know that all the forces are balanced: in fact, since the object is stationary, its acceleration is zero, and so the resultant of the forces (left term in the formula) must be zero as well (i.e. the forces are balanced).
In fact, Netwon's second law states that the resultant of the forces acting on an object is equal to the product between the mass m of the object and its acceleration:
So, when static friction is acting on the object, if the object is still not moving we know that all the forces are balanced: in fact, since the object is stationary, its acceleration is zero, and so the resultant of the forces (left term in the formula) must be zero as well (i.e. the forces are balanced).