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Newton's Laws and Forces

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Newton's Laws and Forces

A research team is testing a small electric cart. Use Newton’s laws and the force and trial data below to explain how forces change motion. Show working for calculations and include units.

1.A bus travels along a straight road at a steady velocity. The driver brakes suddenly, and a passenger moves forwards relative to the bus. Explain this using Newton’s First Law.

2.A cart has a horizontal force of 18 N acting to the right and a horizontal force of 6 N acting to the left. Calculate the resultant horizontal force and state its direction.

3.The cart from question 2 has a mass of 4.0 kg. Using your calculated resultant horizontal force, calculate its acceleration. Show the equation and include units.

4.A swimmer pushes water backwards, and the water pushes the swimmer forwards. Which of Newton’s laws describes this pair of forces? Explain why the forces do not cancel each other on the swimmer.

Cart trial data

The team measures the acceleration of the same cart while changing the applied force. The cart’s mass is 2.0 kg in every trial.

Applied resultant force (N)

Cart mass (kg)

Measured acceleration (m/s²)

2.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

5.Using the cart trial data, describe the relationship between resultant force and acceleration when mass is constant. Use at least two data values in your explanation.

6.The team keeps the resultant force at 6 N but replaces the 2.0 kg cart with a 3.0 kg cart. Predict the new acceleration using Newton’s Second Law.

7.The team wants to test how the cart’s mass affects its acceleration. State the independent variable, the dependent variable, and one variable that should be kept constant.

8.A student changes both the cart’s mass and the applied force in each trial, then claims any acceleration change was caused by mass. What is wrong with this conclusion, and how could the test be improved?

9.A stationary 5.0 kg trolley has a 20 N push to the right and a 20 N friction force to the left. What is its resultant force and acceleration? Explain your answer.

10.A skydiver has opened a parachute and is moving downwards at a constant velocity. Name the two main vertical forces and compare their sizes. What is the resultant force?