A car is moving with a constant velocity of 25 m/s. Which of the following is true?

Physics

1 answer:

S_A_V [24]3 years ago

6 0

b) the net force on the car is zero.

Explanation:

Let's analyze each option one by one:

a) the force from the engine is greater than all the forces of friction. --> FALSE. In fact, the car is moving at constant velocity: this means that its acceleration is zero,

a = 0

and so Newton's second law becomes

$\sum F = ma = 0$

where $\sum F$ is the net force on the car and m is its mass. This means that the net force on the car is zero: so, the force from the engine cannot be greater than all the forces of friction, otherwise the net force cannot be zero.

b) the net force on the car is zero. --> TRUE, for what we said at point A)

c) the inertia is changing. --> FALSE. The inertia of an object just depend on the mass and the velocity of the object: as neither the mass nor the velocity are changing in this problem, then the inertia of the car is not changing.

d) the forces of friction are proportional to the acceleration of the car. --> FALSE. Generally, the force of friction acting on an object moving on a flat surface is

$F_f = \mu mg$

where $\mu$ is the coefficient of friction, m is the mass, and g the acceleration of gravity. Therefore, the force of friction does not depend on the acceleration of the car.