The acceleration of a sled is #2"m"//"s"^2#. What is the acceleration of the sled if we triple the net force and halve the mass?

1 Answer
Aug 13, 2017

#a=12" m"//"s"^2#

Explanation:

By Newton's second law, we can state that the acceleration experienced by an object is proportional to the net force acting on it:

#color(blue)(vecF_("net")=mveca)#

We are given that #a=2" m"//"s"^2#

#=>F=(2" m"//"s"^2)*m#

Therefore we can solve for acceleration and write:

#=>2" m"//"s"^2=F/m#

We want to know what happens to the acceleration of the sled if we triple the net force #F# and halve the mass #m#. Let's see how this would affect the right side of the equation.

#F/m#

#=>(3F)/(1/2m)#

#=>(6F)/m#

#=>6(F/m)#

So we can see that tripling #F# and halving #m# will lead to a net force which is six times greater than before. Hence, we have:

#a=6*(2" m"//"s"^2)#

#=color(blue)(12" m"//"s"^2)#