Four solid spheres of equal radius are made of wood

PHYSICS · Single correct · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials

Problem

Four solid spheres of equal radius are made of wood, aluminium, steel and lead. Their densities are 0.6 g cm−30.6\,\text{g\,cm}^{-3} (wood), 2.7 g cm−32.7\,\text{g\,cm}^{-3} (aluminium), 7.8 g cm−37.8\,\text{g\,cm}^{-3} (steel) and 11.3 g cm−311.3\,\text{g\,cm}^{-3} (lead). Under the action of the same horizontal force, they are set into motion from rest on a frictionless surface. Which of the following sequences ranks the spheres from the one that accelerates the most to the one that accelerates the least? (a) lead, steel, aluminium, wood\text{lead, steel, aluminium, wood} (b) wood, aluminium, lead, steel\text{wood, aluminium, lead, steel} (c) wood, aluminium, steel, lead\text{wood, aluminium, steel, lead} (d) aluminium, wood, steel, lead\text{aluminium, wood, steel, lead}

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