Question

Emma has a large piece of taffy (1.5 kg) that she wants to share with her friend Camila. However, Emma is having a hard time breaking the piece by herself. So, Emma grabs one end of the taffy while Camila grabs the other end. They both pull on the taffy in opposite directions: Emma pulls with 20 N and Camila with 23 N. Calculate the acceleration and give the direction of the acceleration.

Answer 1

Answer:

The acceleration is 2 m/s² in Camila's direction.

Explanation:

The acceleration can be found using the following equation:

$\Sigma F = ma$

Where

F is the force

m is the mass of the taffy = 1.5 kg

a is the acceleration =?

Since Emma pulls one end of the taffy with 20 N and Camila pulls the other end with 23 N we have:

$F_{C} - F_{E} = ma$

$23 N - 20 N = 1.5 kg*a$

$a = 2 m/s^{2}$

Hence, the acceleration is 2 m/s² in Camila's direction.

I hope it helps you!