Question

A student must determine the relationship between the inertial mass of an object, the net force exerted on the object, and the object’s acceleration. The student uses the following procedure. The object is known to have an inertial mass of 1.0kg .
Step 1: Place the object on a horizontal surface such that frictional forces can be considered to be negligible.

Step 2: Attach a force probe to the object.

Step 3: Hang a motion detector above the object so that the front of the motion detector is pointed toward the object and is perpendicular to the direction that the object can travel along the surface.

Step 4: Use the force probe to pull the object across the horizontal surface with a constant force as the force probe measures force exerted on the object. At the same time, use the motion detector to record the velocity of the object as a function of time.

Step 5: Repeat the experiment so that the object is pulled with a different constant force.

Can the student determine the relationship using this experimental procedure?

Answer choices:

A) Yes, because Newton’s second law of motion must be used to determine the acceleration of the object.

B) Yes, because the net force exerted on the object and its change in velocity per unit of time are measured.

C) No, because the motion detector should be oriented so that the object moves parallel to the line along which the front of the motion detector is aimed.

D) No, because knowing the net force exerted on the object and its change in velocity per unit of time is not sufficient to determine the relationship.

Answer 1

Answer:

C

Explanation:

In order to obtain data about the object’s velocity as a function of time, the object must move either toward or away from the motion detector.