Question

A 15 kg cart is pushed on a frictionless surface from rest horizontally by a 30 N force. What is the cart's acceleration?

Answer 1

Answer:

a. The cart's acceleration is 2 m/s^2

b. The cart will travel 100 m

c. The speed is 20 m/s

Explanation:

a. The acceleration of the cart can be calculated using Newton's second law:

F = m.a

Solving for a:

$\displaystyle a=\frac{F}{m}$

The cart has a mass of m=15 Kg and is applied a net force of F=30 N, thus:

$\displaystyle a=\frac{30}{15}$

$a=2\ m/s^2$

b.

Now we use kinematics to find the distance and speed:

$\displaystyle x = v_o.t+\frac{at^2}{2}$

The cart starts from rest (vo=0). The distance traveled in t=10 seconds is:

$\displaystyle x = 0*10+\frac{2*10^2}{2}$

$x = 100\ m$

The cart will travel 100 m

c.

The final speed is calculated by:

$v_f=0+2*10=20\ m/s$

The speed is 20 m/s