A student pushes a wooden crate of mass along a frictionless horizontal floor with a…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials
Problem
A student pushes a wooden crate of mass 10kg along a frictionless horizontal floor with a constant horizontal force of 40N.
(i) Calculate the acceleration produced in the crate.
(ii) The student now places an identical 10kg crate on top of the first so that the two move together as a single system. Keeping the applied force the same at 40N, determine the new acceleration.
(iii) If the student wishes to maintain the acceleration found in part (i) even after the second crate is added, find the magnitude of the horizontal force that must now be applied.
(iv) Explain how your numerical results in parts (i)–(iii) illustrate the direct proportionality between acceleration and applied force, and the inverse proportionality between acceleration and mass.